Inside the Head of a CSI
by CSICSI
Summary: One of the CSIs tries to hide his illness from his friends, but when they discover what is going on, will there be more than just friendship?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, check out my other stories if you have a spare minute J Please enjoy this one which will be more than just a one-shot. X

* * *

Greg was sat in the doctor's office, anxiously waiting for his results. Russell had forced him to come here because last week he collapsed at a crime scene. He, Russell and Sara had been on a scene together when Russell found Greg on the floor, sweat collecting on his brow. He'd immediately called for an ambulance and Greg didn't wake until two hours later at the hospital. They suggested he stay there, but Greg insisted on going home the same day.

However, whilst he was there, Greg told the doctor about the other things that had been happening. A week before, he had woke up to a nosebleed, and it was not the first time he had collapsed. He woke up just the day before his episode at the scene on his living room floor, the television playing away to itself.

His doctor had ran some blood tests, gave him a look over, but nothing showed up. That's when he suggested a scan, to which Greg had agreed. Russell had ordered him to have the week off after, and Nick had called around one night to see him. He'd asked about what the doctor had said and Greg told him that tests had been run and everything showed up as normal. This seemed to satisfy his friend and they dismissed it as a freak incident.

But now, Greg awaited the results from his scan in the office of his doctor's. In the days leading up to it, Greg had felt dizzy multiple times, but he didn't mention it to anyone. Not until he knew that everything was okay.

He looked up sharply as the door opened and his doctor came in. "Hey, Greg. I have your results."  
Greg leant forward slightly as his doctor sat down.

"I don't want you to worry, okay?" That's when Greg knew there was something to worry about. "Now there's a little mass here, you see this spot," The doctor told him, holding up his scan, "I believe this is what is causing you to pass out. Now, we can look into this a little further, maybe do a biopsy, and find out more about it. However, it's relatively small so it should be treatable."

Greg chewed his lip and nodded, "So it's not serious?"

His doctor shook his head, "Greg, we're talking about a brain tumour here, it is quite serious. But like I say, it is quite small so hopefully we can tackle this relatively quickly."

Greg nodded again, "What is the treatment for it?"

"Well I'll pass you over back to the hospital; you can talk to a specialist, they could do a biopsy like I said, or you can get drugs, possibly radiotherapy or chemo. It all depends on what they think over there." His doctor told him with a smile, "But don't get ahead of yourself alright? We found this early enough to do something."

Greg looked up to him and smiled slightly, unsure of how to feel.

* * *

"Hey, Greg." Morgan said as she came up behind Greg in the lab.

He turned around and stopped, "Hey, how are you?" He asked her with a smile as she caught up to him.

"Good, how are you? Feeling better?" She asked him as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered, knowing that he would get a lot of that question today, "Probably just needed a week off." He said to her with a convincing smile.

Morgan smiled back at him, "I know that feeling. What case have you got?"

"Guy shot at home. His kid found him and waited until his nanny arrived to tell her." Greg told her with a sad sigh.

"Oh my god, I know me and my dad didn't have the best start in life but it's better than having no dad at all." Morgan commented, "That poor kid."

Greg nodded in agreement, "Yeah. I best go and see what I can find out about this."

Morgan nodded, "Alright, meet you for dinner?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Text me whenever you're free." Greg told her with a smile before leaving her and going into his office to work.

* * *

After work, Greg went over to the hospital where he met with the brain specialist. They had suggested that the first step would to be to try radiotherapy on its own. Apparently surgery would be tricky at this point as the tumour was quite small and in a tricky part of the brain to remove it.

They had explained to Greg how and when he would have his radiotherapy. They had asked him if he was alright getting to and from the hospital every day and Greg told them that was fine, he only lived about half an hour away. He would go every weekday when his shift ended and would have a few days without it.

They had arranged a few appointments this week for the planning for the treatment and for the mask to be made for him. Apparently this way they could identify where the radiotherapy had to be directed easier. On his next visit, the next day, they gave him a CT scan to get a better picture of where the tumour was. After this, he was set to have his first treatment the following Monday, which he had. Greg was surprised at how quick it was.

He carried on this routine for a few weeks, until something else happened at work.

* * *

"Hey man, what you doing?" Nick asked Greg as he came into the lab that Greg was in.

Greg looked up to him and blinked hard before putting his head back down. Nick frowned and ducked his head to look at him, "You alright?" Nick asked him.

Greg nodded, however when he did he felt a wave of dizziness overcome him and Nick seemed to have seen it too.

"Hey, lean on the table, I got you." Nick told him. He was already sat on a stool but the table was right in front of him, so Nick grabbed a hold of his arm as Greg rested his arms and head on the table.

"Are you alright? You feel sick?" Nick asked him.

Greg rolled his head slightly along his arms on the table, "I'm just dizzy", he told Nick quietly.

Nick rubbed his back, "Okay, hey!" He shouted out the room to Hodges.

Hodges came in and became increasingly curious when he saw Greg resting on the table. "Is he alright?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah, just call me an ambulance for him."

Hodges nodded and luckily had his phone in his lab coat pocket. Greg lifted his head slightly and frowned, "Why did you call Hodges in here?"

Nick laughed slightly, "Hey be nice, he's calling you a medic."

"What, Nick I don't need a medic." Greg argued, trying to sit up but heavily swaying.

"Hey, hey, hey, stay like you were. You need to be checked out." Nick told him, gently pushing him back down.

Russell walked by the room and heard Hodges on the phone to the medics and went inside to find Nick's head level with Greg's.

"Guys?" Russell asked as he joined them and Nick turned to him.

"He's passing out."

Russell motioned for Nick to step away and he replaced Nick. "Greg? Can you hear me, bud?" He asked, shaking Greg's arm.

Greg murmured a reply but it was too muffled to decipher.

Hodges came back in the room, "They'll be about two minutes."

Nick nodded and thanked him, then turned back to Russell with Greg.

Russell shook his head with a frown and went to leave, "I'll go and tell them where we are when they get here."

Nick went back over to Greg. "Nick." Greg said quietly.

"Yeah man? You feel okay?" Nick asked him.

Greg pushed his arms out slightly and again lifted his head. "I've got a tumour."

Nick raised his eyebrows and turned back to Hodges who had a similar look, obviously he had heard too.

"What?" Nick asked again.

Greg looked over to Hodges for a moment before closing his eyes as he felt himself begin to sway again, he leant back down and rested his head, "Don't tell any of the others."

Nick was still looking at him in disbelief and that's when Russell returned with the paramedics. Nick was moved out of the way and he looked to Hodges in shock.

The medics leaned Greg back and put an oxygen mask over his face and moved him over to a wheelchair. "Anybody coming with us?" One of the guys asked.

"Yeah, I'll come." Nick called, snapping out of his daze.

The medic nodded before making his way out of the lab and through the hall of the lab where most of the techs had gathered.

"Nick call me when you find out what this is all about." Russell told him.

Nick nodded before following Greg outside and into the ambulance.

* * *

Nick sat in the hospital room with Greg who was awake, lying on a hospital bed with an IV attached to him. "Nick, please say something." Greg asked him. They'd been sat in silence once the doctor had told them it was probably a case of minor dehydration, but they would give Greg another scan just in case.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nick said to him, turning to him with a questioning stare.

Greg shrugged slightly, "I did."

"Don't be smart with me Greg. I mean before just now." Nick scolded him with a defeated tone.

"It's nothing to worry about. The doctors have told me not to worry so I'm not." Greg told him honestly. The doctors had said it was serious, but increasingly told him his chances were good of fully getting rid of the tumour, since it was so small considering.

Nick looked at him like he had two heads. "Nothing to worry about? What the hell, Greg? Are you being serious?"

Greg smirked slightly as he shook his head, "Look, this is another reason I didn't tell you. You blow everything out of proportion."

Nick laughed, "It's not out of proportion at all. Can you blame me for being concerned?"

"No I can't, and thanks, but seriously I'm fine." Greg told him.

Nick nodded, being quiet for one moment before speaking up again, "So how long have you known?"

Greg thought for a second, "About three weeks. It was when I passed out on my scene, the doctor just suggested I have a scan and it showed up."

Nick let out a long breath, "That's a long time, man. Anything else happen before this?"

Greg shook his head slowly, "Not really." Greg sat for a moment before talking again, "I've been having radiotherapy to treat it, I'm lucky my hair hasn't really started to go yet." He commented with a smile, looking up to Nick.

Nick laughed slightly, "You gonna' shave it off?"

Greg shrugged with a smile still on his face, "I don't know, I'll probably just try and cover it up with a hat or something for a while. I don't think I like the idea of having no hair."

Nick nodded, "Yeah, I can't really imagine you bald to be honest."

"No, me neither." Greg said, rubbing his hair with his hand without the IV in.

They sat chatting for a while, not mentioning the fact that they were in the hospital or the reason why when Nick was interrupted by his cell phone ringing.

"It's Russell. I was meant to tell him what was wrong when I found out, am I alright to tell him about… you know." Nick asked him, holding his phone in his hand.

Greg sighed, "Yeah, tell him the truth."

Nick nodded and patted his arm as he answered. "Hey Russell, sorry I haven't called, I've been speaking to Greg and he's doing alright."

"Yeah, he told me something… He has a brain tumour." Nick told Russell, glancing over to Greg.

"He's been dealing with it alright. He's having radiotherapy." He carried on, sticking up for his friend whilst answering Russell's questions. "No, I found out today. I think he's alright, he doesn't want us to worry about him."

"Yeah, okay I'll see you later. Bye."

Nick hung up and looked over to Greg, "He's coming over here now to talk to you."

Greg leant his head back, "Okay, I don't suppose my doctor said how long I have to stay here did he?"

"He just said as long as you get some fluids into you, you can leave later today." Nick told him.

Greg looked up to the IV bag and saw a small amount of clear liquid left in it.

"Alright, can you call Russell back and tell him I'll call him? I don't really want to stay here much longer and I think when that's empty I'll be alright to leave."

"Your doctor wants to give you a scan though." Nick reminded him.

Greg rang the call button attached to his bed. "I need to have my radiotherapy tomorrow, I'll ask if I can have one then." He said to Nick as a nurse came in the room, "Hi, I was just wondering if I'd be alright to leave?" Greg asked her and gave her his best smile.

She smiled back and looked at his IV bag, "Well it looks as though you'll be alright to leave pretty soon, I'll go and get a doctor to see for sure."

Greg smiled again, "Alright, thank you very much."

Nick shook his head, "Why you in such a rush to leave? Maybe you need to stay for a night, you know?"

Greg flicked his eyes over to Nick and smiled as he shook his head, "Don't do this."

Nick frowned, "What?"

"'You need to stay in the hospital', 'you need to rest', 'don't work too hard', that." Greg said to him.

"I'm not doing it like that, I just… it's a lot to take in and I just want to make sure nothing happens to you." Nick told him honestly.

Greg smiled, "Well thanks for the concern, but I really am fine. If anything else happens, you'll be the first to know about it, okay?"

Nick smiled back, "Yeah, thanks."

Greg nodded once and then nodded to Nick's phone, "Can you call Russell? Please, I can call him when I get home or let him know he can call around if he wants, I really just don't want to stay here longer than I have to."

"Yeah, I'll go call him now." Nick said standing up as the doctor walked in.

"Hey Greg, are you in tomorrow for your radiotherapy?" His doctor asked him, picking up the chart at the end of the bed.

Greg nodded, "Yeah, I was wondering if I could have another scan then, I want to leave as soon as I can."

His doctor nodded, "I'm sure we could slot you in sometime, just let Hannah know when your appointment is and we'll book it around there."

"Alright, thanks. Am I good to go now?" Greg asked.

"I think so; I'll get a nurse to take this out for you. Just keep drinking lots of water, okay? You should keep on top of this." His doctor lightly scolded him.

"Yeah don't worry, eight glasses a day." Greg told him as a nurse came in and started removing his IV.

His doctor said goodbye and soon enough Greg was out of the hospital and Russell had arrived outside, pointing out that he would have to come and give he and Nick a ride home anyway.

It had been slightly awkward for Greg, getting question after question from Russell but he knew he was just concerned like Nick was. They dropped Nick off at the lab and then Russell proceeded to take Greg home. When they arrived, he walked Greg inside and went in with him.

"I'm alright you know." Greg told him.

Russell nodded as he stood by the door, "I know. But if you need anything, I know you don't now" He said as Greg started to interrupt, "but if you do, come and let me know."

Greg gave him an appreciative smile and nodded, "Alright I will."

Russell smiled and let himself out, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

* * *

Thanks for reading the first chapter guys! If you want more or have any comments please review. X


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the next chapter :) It's quite a long one so I hope you like it. X

* * *

It had been a few more weeks and again nothing had happened at work, or at home for Greg. However he had noticed with dread, his hair getting thinner and thinner. It had been a few days after he'd told Nick that he was lucky it hadn't been going, so he couldn't help but feel as though he had jinxed it. He had noticed hair being left on his pillow in the morning, not a lot but more than he would have seen before and then he felt it clump lightly in his hand as he showered.

Now, he stood ready to go to work, frantically thinking what to do. He had the previous evening off work and spent the whole night restlessly lying in his bed, worrying about going into work the next day.

It still remained that only Nick, Hodges and Russell knew about the tumour, and for that Greg was glad. He didn't think he would be able to handle all the girls treating him differently. But now, now he had no idea how to cover this up. He woke up three hours earlier than he had to but he couldn't sleep.

His hair had gone patchy in places and it seemed to have become a lot more obvious in the last few days. He suddenly thought of something and quickly went over to his wardrobe and found a cap he had gotten from work years ago. He put it on and it hid his hair well. He didn't know how he would get around the questions he would get from wearing it but he would deal with them when he got there.

* * *

"Hey Greg, what's with the hat?" Morgan asked him as she joined him in the break room.

He turned his head to look at her and smiled slightly, "Well the sun's out, thought I'd pull this old thing out of my wardrobe."

She smiled as she sat across from him, "I've never seen you in a hat before."

He gave her a nervous laugh as Nick came in, "Hey, you still have one of those?" He asked without thinking, but then he saw Greg give him one of those glances and then he remembered their conversation at the hospital. He had noticed a patch of Greg's hair missing a few days ago but hadn't said anything. Now he understood what the hat was about.

"I bet you can't keep it on all day." He said, thinking quickly of a way to help Greg out.

Greg smiled and looked to Morgan, "How much are we betting?"

Nick sat next to him smiling too, "$50."

Greg turned to him and stuck out his hand, "Deal."

Catherine and Sara came in too, Russell just behind them. "Greg, what's with that?" Catherine asked him with a frown.

"Nick just put a bet on that he can't keep it on all day." Morgan told them with a smile.

They walked behind him as they went to get coffee and Sara whipped it off his head, "Hey Sara!" Greg shouted as he jumped up to grab it back, but it was too late.

He watched Sara's face drop and quickly grabbed the cap out of her hand and back on his head. He glanced around the room as everyone stared at him in shock and saw Nick bite his lip. He quickly scrambled away from the table and out of the door, mumbling an 'excuse me' as he went by Russell who stood by the door.

The team looked at each other and Nick stood, going after Greg.

He looking down the lab and saw Greg quickly walk through the lab doors and followed him. He turned the corner outside and looked around; he carried on walking until he found Greg sat just down the side of the lab.

He walked down and Greg glanced up to him, "Sorry" he said quietly as he turned his head away. Nick sat next to him on the bench and just sat for a minute.

Greg pulled off the hat and looked at it, and then ran his hands through his hair. "I know I shouldn't care this much but I do." He admitted to Nick, not looking up, ashamed to have tears in his eyes.

"Man it's alright for you to be bothered about this." Nick told him. "It's only hair though, right? It'll grow back eventually, you can try and rock the bald look for a while, hell I'll even do it with you." He tried to console him.

Greg tried to offer him a small laugh but Nick could tell it was forced. He didn't say anything, just stared down at the cap until Nick spoke again. "You want me to tell the others about this?"

Greg was about to answer Nick when they both turned to see who was coming towards them. However when Greg saw that it was Russell, he turned to look back down again.

"You alright, Greg?" He asked his colleague with a small smile.

Greg looked up to him and offered a small smile back and a short nod.

"They're all worried about you in there. " He stated as he sat on the wall across from them.

Greg didn't answer him just raised his eyebrows slightly.

"How is your radiotherapy going?" Russell asked him, "You can talk to us, you know."

Greg looked up to his boss and sighed, "It's going okay, the last scan I had showed it had got bigger but the doctor just said it could get worse before it gets better."

Nick spoke to him next, "You been alright, anymore passing out or anything?"

Greg shook his head wearily, "Not really… I'm just tired all the time" He admitted to them, "I think I need to cut my hours" He said to Russell wiping his eyes, trying not to let his emotions catch up with him.

Although he had been coping well for the last month or so, he had noticed fatigue slowly washing over him, especially the past week as he noticed his hair falling out, preventing him from getting to sleep at night.

Nick put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze, "You should have said something sooner," Russell told him gently, "I would have given you some time off."

Greg sniffed as he regained his composure and wiped his eyes. "How about Nick drops you off at your apartment and you can have tomorrow off?" Russell suggested.

He nodded his head and gave him a small smile again, "Sorry, I didn't mean to do this." He apologized, embarrassed by his moment of weakness.

Russell smiled, "Don't worry about it, should I let the girls know what's going off?" He asked, much like Nick had previously.

Greg nodded, "Yeah, just make sure they know I'm alright though."

"Alright I will. Get some rest okay? We'll talk about your hours when you get back." Russell told him, standing up to go.

Greg nodded and gave him a final smile as he went. "Right come on, let me take you home. Gets me out of work for a while." Nick said as they stood up too.

Greg securely put the cap back on and went to Nick's truck.

* * *

Nick had tried to stay for a little while, but Greg assured him he was okay and had apologized again, but Nick told him it was fine.

Now Greg sat on his sofa, T.V. playing to itself when there was a knock on his door. He got up and opened it, surprised at who was on the other side. "Hey."

"Hey Morgan," Greg said surprised, "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

He stepped aside and let her in; cringing that she had took a long look at his hair before coming inside.

"Russell told us. I thought I'd come and see you, make sure you were okay." She explained.

He nodded and sat down on his sofa, she sat in a chair. "I told Russell to let you know I was alright."

"He told us, he also said not to call around for today but I couldn't help it." She told him with a smile.

He laughed and rubbed his head, "Sorry, if you know, I scared you or anything." He said, motioning to his hair.

"It didn't scare us it just shocked us." Morgan told him, "We had no idea you were going through all of this."

Greg gave her a small smile but didn't really know what to say. After a second, Morgan reached into her purse and pulled out a box. "I had a friend in college who went through something similar to this," She started saying, "I thought maybe you would want to do the same thing she did." She told him, undoing the box and pulling out what was inside.

Greg smiled at her when he saw what it was, "You need help?" Morgan asked him as she waved the electric razor in the air slightly.

"Yeah, let's do it."

* * *

Morgan had helped Greg completely shave his head. He had regretted it at first but didn't show it. He was happy Morgan had thought to come around and he took it as a nice gesture that she wanted to help him. She had spent a few hours at his home afterwards, just chatting and enjoying each other's company until she left to go to her apartment.

Greg had felt a longing inside of him to ask her if she wanted to stay a little longer but didn't act on it. He would see her in a few days when he went back to work.

So after a day off, Greg went to work. Nick had called to pick him up since his truck was still at the lab and Nick commented on Greg's baldness as soon as he saw him. Once they had gotten to the lab too, everyone looked at him different. A lot of people also said something about his hair… well no hair, but Greg could tell that they were acting different because they had found out about his tumour.

He didn't really understand why though. He felt fine; everything was going pretty much the same as it did before this, so there was nothing wrong. He knew that he should probably be worrying a little bit more about this than he was, but he just didn't feel as though it was serious.

When he joined the team for their morning brief and to be assigned their cases, he had an awkward moment with Catherine and Sara, both of them berating him for not telling them sooner. He assured them he was fine and lucky for him Russell joined them to stop their conversation.

Twenty minutes later he and Morgan had arrived at their scene together. After being there for just ten minutes however, Greg could feel another wave of dizziness wash over him. Thankfully he was in a separate room of the house to Morgan, so he gently leant on the dresser in the room, blinking his eyes hard to try and clear his vision. It had happened a few times but had always cleared.

But instead, he found his vision getting progressively worse. With panic starting to rise, he tried to look around and focus on something but he couldn't and soon enough he was getting to see less and less.

"M… Morgan?" He shouted; worry clearly shining through his voice.

"Yeah?" He heard her shout up to him, clearly she was downstairs, "Greg? Are you alright?" He heard her shout and start coming up the stairs. "Greg?" She shouted when she got to the top.

Greg didn't say anything but heard when she came into the room, "Greg, what's wrong?" She asked, seeing him leaning on the dresser, his eyes looking around. She rushed over to him and gently grabbed his arm.

"Morgan, I can't see." He told her looking in the direction he knew she was. "I can't see." He repeated and his voice cracking.

Her face dropped and she put her camera down and put her now free hand on Greg's other arm, "It's okay, it's okay sit down" She told him and guided him back a few steps to the bed in the room.

"Officer!" She shouted as she rubbed Greg's arm, trying to comfort him, noticing his breathing getting harsher.

The officer on scene with them bounced up the stairs but slowed as he saw them sat on the bed, Greg close to tears and Morgan with a concerned face.

"Call an ambulance, he can't see." Morgan told him, immediately turning back to Greg.

"What happened?" He asked but Morgan shook her head, "Just get a medic here now!"

The officer stepped out into the hall and radioed for a medic and Morgan focused on Greg.

"Is it getting better?" She asked him hopeful.

Greg shook his head and blinked some more, wishing it would help. "No, I can't see at all. I can't see anything."

Morgan pulled him towards her softly, rubbing her hand through his hair as he started to cry, "Shh, it'll be alright. It will be alright."

* * *

"Morgan" She looked up to the call of her name and saw Nick walking down the corridor to meet her, "Is he alright?"

She nodded with a sigh, "It's just temporary. The doctor is in with him now."

Nick let out a sigh of relief "Thank God", he and the whole team had been worried sick when Morgan had called saying that Greg couldn't see and it scared them to think their friend may never see again. "How the hell did this happen?"

"Apparently the swelling of the tumour made it compress a nerve, I don't know really, the doctor was pretty quick when he told me," Morgan told him, "But he said if Greg takes the steroids he'll give him, he should be able to see again in the next few days."

Nick nodded his understanding and the doctor came out of Greg's room. "I've told Greg everything, he can leave when he's sorted out who he's going to stay with and made an appointment to come back and see us. He needs to make sure he turns up for his radiotherapy sessions too."

Nick and Morgan both nodded and stood to go in the hospital room when the doctor had finished. As they went in Greg was sat on the edge of the bed, two patches covering his eyes.

"Hey G it's us." Nick said as they shut the door.

Greg offered a small smile, though Nick could tell he was shaken from the experience, "Hey man."

"Are you ready to go?" Morgan asked him, causing Nick to turn to her.

"Who's he staying with?"

Greg dropped off the edge of the bed as Nick grabbed an arm to sturdy him. "I'm going to stay at Greg's house for a few days; we talked about it before you got here." Morgan told him and went to the other side of Greg.

Nick didn't say anything out loud but mouthed something to her as they helped Greg sit in the wheelchair the doctor had left for them. As he sat down Greg spoke up, "You know I can still tell when you're doing stuff to each other even though I can't see you."

Morgan laughed slightly, "Sorry, I think Nick's a little pissed off I'm staying with you."

"If it's a problem I can call someone else-" Greg began.

"No you won't it's fine." Morgan interrupted.

Nick stayed quiet until they got out to the front of the hospital and Greg was getting in the back of his truck. Once the door was shut, he turned to Morgan, "Are you sure about this? I can stay with him." He said quietly, making sure Greg couldn't hear through the window.

Morgan moved to the back where she rested her hand on the handle, "Nick don't worry I want to do this, why are you so bothered?"

Nick just shook his head, "I just… Make sure he's okay, alright?" He settled on saying.

Morgan nodded a she opened the car door and sat inside. Nick went round to the driver's side and got in, then drove to Greg's house.

* * *

Nick had only stayed for around ten minutes, making sure that everything was okay and getting Greg settled before he offered to take Morgan to get her car which had been taken back to the lab. She had accepted his offer and had told Greg she'd be back as soon as possible, and she was.

Within the hour she had arrived back at Greg's house and used his key to get in.

"Hey, I called at the store and picked us some food up." She told him as she made her way into his kitchen, behind where he sat on his sofa, the same position she had left him in.

She sat near to him and placed a bowl of chips on his lap, "Here, I'd offer to cook something but I won't put you through that." She told him, causing him to smile. "I thought a pack of chips were the next best thing."

"Thanks, I'm not really that hungry though." He admitted to her.

She leaned back on the sofa and he could feel her scoot closer, "Oh well, that means more for me." She said and he could hear her crunch a chip in her mouth. He smiled once again and couldn't help but think that she was deliberately sat close to him. However he soon pushed that thought to the back of his mind; Morgan was just a friend, a good friend, and he planned on keeping it that way.

"I think I'm going to go get some sleep, it's not much fun sat in front of the T.V. when you can't see anything" Greg explained to her as he tried to get up as quickly as he could.

"Alright" Morgan answered, a bit surprised at his sudden urge to get up.

Greg went around the back of the couch and used it to help guide him the way of the hall, "You know where the guest bedroom is right?"

Morgan nodded and then realized he couldn't see her, "Yeah thanks. Do you need any help getting upstairs?"

He shook his head slightly as he reached them, "I think I'm good thanks. You can help yourself to whatever you want, you know food and whatever, there's beer in the fridge too if you want it." He told her, already climbing his stairs.

She smiled as she watched him, "Okay, sleep well alright?"

She saw him smile and heard a faint 'yeah' come from him as she saw him finally reach the top of the stairs.

* * *

Greg woke up with no idea what time it was. He peeled back one of the patches in hopes that his sight had returned but it hadn't yet. He stuck it back down and gingerly got out of bed as his belly growled at him to eat something.

He made it to his bedroom door and held onto the wall as he reached the top of his stairs. Grabbing onto the rail, he took them slowly, however after only four steps he began to get dizzy again and he tried to sturdy himself but it was no use. He slipped off the step he was on and fell to the bottom of the stairs, cursing when he got to the bottom.

Immediately he heard Morgan rushing to him from his living room. "Greg! Are you alright?" She asked him, grabbing onto his hand as he pushed himself up.

He laughed embarrassed and grabbed her hand back, "Yeah, yeah I'm good." He told her quietly.

"What are you doing coming down here?" She asked him as she led them to his kitchen.

"I woke up and I was hungry," He told her as he sat on one of his breakfast bar stools.

Morgan grabbed him a glass of water and placed it down in front of him, "You went upstairs just over an hour ago." She told him as she sat down next to him.

He turned to her direction, "Really? I thought it was morning." He told her, not believing he had only just gone up to his room.

"No it's like 2:40," Morgan told him, "You should really try and get some sleep."

He smiled and shook his head looking down, "I never get much anyway."

Morgan looked at him, a sad expression coming over her face "Why not?"

He shrugged and took a sip of water, "Too much stuff to think about you know."

"Can you grab me a beer please?" He asked her before she had chance to ask him any questions.

She immediately got up to get him one and opened it before passing it to him, moving the water away too, "Thanks."

"No problem." They sat in silence for a while until Morgan spoke, "When's your radiotherapy tomorrow?"

Greg pointed over his shoulder, "It's on the calendar."

She turned her head and saw the time written down in Greg's handwriting. "I'll take you before shift and hang around for you."

"You don't have to do that; I can just call a cab." Greg told her.

"No you can't, you need someone with you. I can do it anyway, it's no bother." She told him, opening a beer for herself. "So what do you think about, when you can't sleep?" She asked him, hoping he would tell her.

But he shook his head, clearly not wanting to tell her, "Nothing important, just anything."

She took his answer as a sign of not wanting to talk about anything like that so stopped herself from trying to pry it out of him.

They sat in silence for a good while, the only noise being Greg spinning the beer bottle around in his hands on the table.

"Don't you own any pyjamas?" She asked, breaking the silence, a smile on her face as she looked Greg up and down, sat in only his boxers.

He smiled slightly and turned his face down, "Sorry, I probably do somewhere but I never usually wear them."

She giggled as he blushed, "Well you are at home, you do what you want, just make sure you don't walk around naked." She said to him, causing him to turn a deeper shade of red and her to laugh harder.

He laughed along, even though he tried his hardest not to, "Would that be a problem?" He asked her cheekily.

"Yes, I do not need to see that thank you very much." She told him, still laughing.

"What if I need help in the shower though? I can't see." Greg asked her with a grin, playing along.

She slapped him lightly on his arm, "Stop it! That will only ever happen in your dreams." She told him, looking at him with gazing eyes, knowing she could look where she wanted and he wouldn't know.

He laughed and thought about saying something else, but without seeing her it was hard to know if he had overstepped the mark, so he held back another comment.

They chatted more and ate some food until Greg heard Morgan stifle a yawn and he suggested that they both try and get some sleep. After helping him upstairs, Morgan left him as he walked into his bedroom and sighed as she went to the guest room.

* * *

The next morning, Morgan had taken Greg to the hospital for his radiotherapy and they made it back home without any fuss. She quickly headed off to work and Greg was left to his own devices. He peeled back the patch on his left eye and to his surprise, he could see. Not clearly, but he could see outlines and the basic shapes of everything around.

He peeled back the right one and was happy to see it was even clearer; he was impressed with how quick the steroids must have been working. Smiling to himself he made his way into his kitchen and thought about cooking something, however feeling dizziness just starting to show again, and the fact that he still couldn't really see that well he decided against it.

He blinked harshly to see if it would do anything but it didn't. He resorted to just grabbing a bag of chips and making his way to his sofa. He turned on his T.V. and switched it to the discovery channel, the only channel he knew the number of. He listened to it but after only around half an hour he began to get bored and could feel his eyes drooping closed.

* * *

There you go everybody I hope it was okay! X


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone, the next chapter is here, I hope it's good :) x

* * *

Morgan slid the key into Greg's door and went inside. She shut the door behind her and was surprised to see Greg sat on the couch, eye patches off and his head leaning over the back of the couch.

She went into his kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee, then went back into the living room to where Greg slept. She debated waking him up but thought against it after she remembered he had told her about not getting much sleep. She sat on the arm of the chair, just staring at him for a while before getting up and making her way back into the kitchen and starting on some paperwork.

* * *

The next morning, Greg woke up still on the couch and rubbed his eyes, happy to find that his vision was much clearer. He stood up and quickly went to catch the chips that he almost threw off of himself and onto the floor that had been resting on him. He placed them on the table and then went into the kitchen.

"Hey sleepyhead, I was starting to think you weren't going to wake up." Morgan said to him with a smile, "And why have you took your patches off? Shouldn't you leave them on?" She said, getting up and pouring him a cup of coffee she had made.

He smiled as he sat down on a bar stool, "I would have if I couldn't see."

Morgan turned back to him and smiled, "Are you serious? Greg, that's great news!"

He smiled back and nodded, "I thought I could come to work with you when you go?"

Morgan's smile faltered for just a moment, "Yeah, if you want to. Are you sure?"

Greg nodded, "Yeah, why not?"

She shook her head and handed him his coffee, "No reason, just checking."

He looked at her a little sceptically but then nodded.

"I'm going to use the bathroom and then I'll be leaving, so if you're coming, you better make yourself look a bit better if you're turning up with me." Morgan told him, putting her mug in the sink.

Greg quickly gulped his coffee down and then smiled at her as she left, and then went to get ready.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing here? Where's your eye patches?" Nick asked Greg as he walked in with Morgan.

"Don't need the anymore," Greg told him with a smile, "Back to normal."

Nick patted him on the back, "That's great, man. You're not thinking of working though are you?"

Greg shrugged, "I thought I might be able to help out yeah."

"Man, come on; is that really a good idea?" Nick asked him, "I mean, yesterday you couldn't see, that's a big deal."

"Yeah I know that, but it's better." Greg argued as they reached the end of the hall near Russell's office.

Nick raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Alright, but if Russell lets you then just don't work too hard alright?"

Greg gave him a smile and nodded, "Yes Mom."

Nick laughed as he patted his friend's shoulder once more before leaving. Morgan smiled at him to, "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, I guess so" Greg agreed, "Catch you later."

As she headed down the hall, Greg knocked on his Boss' door before going inside. "Greg, what are you doing here?" Russell asked him surprised.

"Thought you might need an extra pair of hands" Greg said to him as he sat down, "My eyes are back to normal so…"

Russell smiled, "Great, that's fantastic. But I don't think I'd be very good at my job if I let you back out into the field just yet."

Greg sighed, "What about the lab?"

Russell stared at him for a moment, "Okay, but just for a couple of hours. I want you to get a confirmation from your doctor before you come back properly."

Greg smiled as he stood up, "Alright, I'll get you one for tomorrow."

* * *

Morgan had given Greg a lift back to his place whilst she picked up her few belongings that were there. She lived not too far away, and Greg's place was on her way to the lab, so they had agreed that she would pick him up since it wasn't the best idea for him to drive just yet.

As soon as Morgan left, Greg looked at when his next radiotherapy was, which turned out was in only a few hours from then. He rang for a cab and then went off to the hospital.

Whilst there he had mentioned to the brain cancer specialist that his eyesight had returned and that he would like to get back to work as soon as possible. The doctor had told him that he could see no problem in him returning and checked his eyes, satisfied with the look of them and the eyesight test he had Greg do. He signed a note for Greg's boss and then said he would see him soon.

He got another taxi home and then sat in front of the T.V., marvelling at how amazing it was, finally getting to see it again instead of just hearing and not understanding what was really going on.

He fell asleep watching some science program and found that he was able to sleep peacefully for the first time in the last few months.

* * *

He was picked up for work in the morning by Morgan and as soon as he got to the lab found Russell to hand him the approved bit of paper. Russell nodded and gave him his assignment for the day with Sara.

She had welcomed him back, after not seeing him for a few days and then had driven them to their scene. "I'll take the body," She started, "That leaves you with the primary; the officer said it looks like it started in the kitchen."

Greg nodded and smiled, "Alright, cool."

He headed off to the kitchen and was back into the swing of things straight away. However after a while, his vision started to blur slightly. Silently panicking, he blinked harshly a few times to try and clear it, which seemed to help. He looked up and saw Sara stood in the doorway.

Sara had finished photographing the body so once she had done and the body was being taken away by David, she decided to go and see how Greg was getting on. As she got to the kitchen though, she watched him from the door, noticing how he was blinking from his crouched position on the floor. Suddenly he looked up to her.

"Hey, David's taken the body, you need any help?" She asked, choosing not to say anything about his eyes.

Greg shook his head, "I think I'm pretty much done, there's not much to do," He told her, motioning to the lack of blood and evidence around him, "I'll be done in five."

Sara smiled at him, "Alight, I'll go and take my stuff to the truck then."

Greg nodded and gave her a smile. He blinked hard once more and then took his final photos.

* * *

Once back at the lab, Greg was taking their evidence to Hodges and Sara was going to the break room. She detoured though when she spotted Nick in the locker room, "Hey Nick."

"Hey Sar," He said looking up and smiling, "What's up?"

She looked over her shoulder and then sat next to him, "I noticed Greg blinking weird earlier, I didn't say anything to him but I'm not sure he can see properly again yet. Will you keep an eye on him; just make sure he's okay?"

Nick nodded and frowned with concern, "Yeah don't worry I'll look out for him."

Sara gave him a smile as she stood up and then left.

* * *

Nick was walking through the lab and saw Greg in one of the rooms; evidence sprawled out all over the table. "Hey man, what you doing?"

Greg glanced up to him and then looked down at the papers in front of him, "Trying to piece all of these results together, it doesn't make any sense."

Nick came to stand by him and looked at the results, raising an eyebrow, "Well good luck figuring them out."

Greg gave him a sideways grin, "Thanks for the help."

Nick laughed and looked at his friend for a minute, who had turned his attention back to the papers. He noticed what Sara had told him about earlier.

"Can you see alright?" He asked Greg.

Caught off guard by the question, Greg looked at him sharply, "Yeah, why?"

Nick shrugged, "You look like you're struggling to see the papers. You keep blinking hard."

Greg turned his head back down, "I can see them, I'm just tired."

"Maybe you need to shorten your hours a bit more." Nick suggested.

Greg flicked his eyes up to Nick, "I don't need to shorten my hours anymore."

"You sure? Maybe you should have had another day off then." Nick argued.

Greg slammed his hand down in frustration and looked at Nick, "Would you get off my back? I'm fine alright; I know what I can handle."

Nick quirked an eyebrow at him, "Really? Because I don't think you do, you're just going to keep working until you end up in the hospital I can see it."

Greg brushed by him, leaving the room, Nick calling after him, "Greg, come back."

But he didn't listen. He felt nauseous and calmly tried to make his way to the bathroom without drawing attention to himself. Once there, he ran into the stall, quickly locking the door behind him. He felt for sure that he was going to throw up. He sat in front of the toilet, waiting, but nothing ever came, however the feeling didn't go away.

He heard the door to the rest rooms open and tried to stay quiet, but suddenly he felt the bile rise in his throat.

Whoever was outside knocked on the door, "You alright in there?"

Greg wiped his mouth and recognized the voice as Henry's, 'Mmhmm'.

"Are you sure?" Henry asked again.

Greg dropped his head to rest on the wall of the cubicle, "Yeah."

"Greg is that you?" Shit. Greg cursed himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks though Henry." He said, trying to get the other man to leave before he threw up again.

"Okay, do you want me to fetch anyone? Or tell Russell you're going home?"

Greg closed his eyes and bit his lip, "No I'll, I'll sort it thanks."

He waited for an answer, "Okay, hope you feel better."

He didn't answer, just waited for the sound of the door closing and then grabbed a hold of the toilet seat as he wretched again.

* * *

"Hey Henry, have you seen Greg?" Nick asked him as he stopped by his lab. He'd left it five minutes but when Greg didn't come back, he decided to go and find him.

"Yeah actually, he's in the restrooms." Henry made a face, "I'd give him a while though, he was throwing up when I was in there."

Nick frowned and nodded, "Alright, thanks man." He quickly headed for the men's room where he hoped Greg still was.

He pushed open the door and saw that there was only one stall in use, the rest of the bathroom was empty. He tentatively knocked on the cubicle door, "Greg?"

He heard a sharp intake of breath from the person inside.

"Are you alright?" He asked after he got no response.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Greg shouted through the door, still sat in front of the toilet.

Nick frowned, "You sure? Come on, I'll drive you home."

Greg pushed himself off of the floor, but found himself falling back down onto the side of the stall.

"You alright, Greg?" Nick asked, hearing him thud against the side heavily. "Greg?" He asked again when his friend didn't answer him.

He pushed against the door, "Greg, open the door." When he got no answer again, he stepped back and then forced himself against the door, popping the lock undone. Luckily Greg was sat far enough away so that the door didn't hit him and Nick went inside.

"Hey man, why didn't you answer me?" He asked when he saw Greg propped up against the side wall.

Greg shook his head along the stall and blinked hard again.

"Are you alright? You see me alright?" Nick asked him, starting to get an idea of what might be going on.

Greg reluctantly shook his head, "No, everything's blurry again" He admitted with a shaky voice.

"Alright, don't panic. Let me call for a medic." Nick said to him.

Greg put his hand out and felt for the toilet again, "You alright?" Nick asked him as he inched closed to the toilet bowl, "You gonna' throw up?" Nick asked him and Greg nodded ever so slightly.

"Okay," Nick put his hand on Greg's back as he threw up again and then when he had called for a medic, he grabbed some tissue and passed it to Greg. "Here you go, man, wipe your face."

Greg put his quaking hand out and Nick passed him the tissue.

The door swung open and Russell saw his two colleagues and immediately became concerned, "Hey, are you alright?"

Nick looked up whilst Greg closed his eyes and let out a long breath, "Medics are on the way" Nick explained with a shake of his head.

Russell came over and stood just outside the cubicle, "You want a drink or anything, bud?"

Greg shook his head and offered up a small smile. Nick patted him on the back twice, "You want to try and make it outside, get some fresh air?" He asked.

Greg nodded and Nick helped him to his feet. They slowly headed out the bathroom, Nick holding onto his forearm and one hand around his back whilst Russell was the other side of him. Everyone they walked by gave them questioning glances but Russell and Nick both ignored them, and Greg didn't even see them, hanging his head the whole way.

"I need to stop." Greg said suddenly.

"Alright, no problem" Russell said to him. They'd stopped outside of Hodges' lab so Russell asked him to bring a chair out. However just as he had, Greg went limp in their arms and his weight started pulling him to the floor.

"Greg? Greg, can you hear me?" Russell asked him as he and Nick lowered him to the floor.

"Greg?" Nick tried as well, but they got no response other than Greg's body going rigid and beginning to convulse.

"Hodges, go and wait for the medics and show them where we are." Russell barked at a stunned Hodges, who immediately snapped out of staring at Greg and headed outside.

Russell then took off his blazer and rolled it up slightly before attempting to wedge it under Greg's head, which was smacking the hard floor. "Nick, don't hold him down." He told Nick, who had grabbed a hold of Greg's arms, trying to control him.

He let go but looked at Russell with confusion and hopelessness.

"We just need to let him do his thing," Russell explained, "Trust me."

Nick bit his lip as he watched Greg jolt around on the floor, listening to all the noises he was making too.

A small audience had gathered around the trio however, they didn't get long to look as Hodges came back, two medics following him, "There he is."

They came forward and knelt down near Greg. "What's his name?" A female asked Nick as she pulled on some gloves.

"Greg." Nick told her, not taking his eyes off of Greg who was starting to calm down.

"Greg? Can you hear me?" She asked him as he now lay motionless on the floor, just heaving from breathing so heavy and with his eyes open. She opened her bag and pulled out an IV.

Greg lifted his head slightly off of Russell's jacket and looked around. "Greg, are you with us?" The other medic asked him, coming up to his head with an oxygen mask ready.

Greg grunted as he tried to push himself up. "Whoa, stay lying down Greg, okay? You need to stay there for a minute" the medic told him. "I'm going to put this on you okay? I'm going to give you some oxygen" He told Greg, placing the mask over his mouth and snapping the elastic around the back of his head.

Everyone was surprised then when Greg started to push against the medic, trying to get up again.

"Hey Greggo, calm down man, they're here to help you" Nick told him, coming into view.

He dropped back down onto the floor, thoroughly exhausted from thrashing around.

"That's it Greg, just try and relax for us, okay?" The female medic said to him. "I need you to lie really still for me alright? I'm going to put this in your arm."

Greg stared at her as she brought the IV to the crook of his arm and jerked his arm away quickly.

"Okay, it's alright. We'll wait a second," She said as she smiled at him, "Just try and hold still for me."

She went to try again but Greg moved his arm away again.

"Hey bud, look at me," Russell told him and Greg looked around with wide eyes before resting on Russell, "You need to hold still so that they can help you, alright? Take my hand." He told Greg and to his surprise he listened, and lifted up his still trembling hand.

Russell put his hand down and grabbed Greg's, "There we go, stay still alright. I know you're confused."

Russell nodded to the medic who tried again with the IV and luckily got it in without Greg even flinching, "Good job, Greg."

He stretched his legs out on the floor and let out a long breath before yet again trying to get up.

"Hey" Russell said to him, pulling on his hand, "Stay there, they're going to put you on a gurney okay, you don't have to get up or walk anywhere, you hear me?" He smiled when Greg nodded gently to him.

Nick smiled too when Greg turned to him and tried to say something. "What, man? I can't hear you."

One of the medics lifted the mask from his face and moved it just to the side. "You, you, you come h, hospital, c-c-come me?" Greg asked him, apparently unaware of how slurred his words were. However it was enough for Nick to understand.

"Of course, man. I'm coming with you don't worry." Nick reassured him.

Greg opened his hand for him and Nick grabbed his sweaty palm, holding it tight.

Greg seemed to have lost all adrenaline and all energy since just a few minutes ago when they started putting him on the gurney and taking him into the ambulance.

Russell stood with Nick whilst the medics sorted Greg out in the ambulance. "Call me when you can alright?"

Nick nodded and let out a deep breath, "Yeah."

Russell put his hand on his arm, "You alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, just scared for him you know?" Nick admitted, looking at Greg.

Russell nodded in understanding, "I hear you. But he'll be alright, you know that."

Nick looked up to him and smiled, and then without another word climbed back into the back of the ambulance.

* * *

Please review if you liked, or even if you didn't, I'd like to know your thoughts :) x


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for reading, nothing that great in this chapter but hope you enjoy it X

* * *

Nick was sat with Greg in a private room when Greg woke up.

"Hey man."

Greg rolled his head to the side and then faced Nick, "Why am I in the hospital?" He asked him with a frown. He was unbelievably tired and all he wanted to do was sleep.

"You had a seizure," Nick told him, "You scared the crap out of me, man."

Greg laughed slightly as he pushed back into the comfort of his pillows, "Sorry, didn't think you scared so easy. I thought you were tough."

Nick smirked at his attempt to lighten the mood, "I am, just not when I can't do anything to help you."

"Have you spoken to my doctor?" Greg asked him, closing his eyes.

"Yeah, he's arranged another scan for later." Nick told him, not wanting to inform him of what his doctor had said after that.

But Greg must have sensed there was more, as his eyes opened groggily again, "He thinks it's worse, right?" He asked quietly, staring Nick straight in the eyes.

Nick reluctantly nodded, "But hey, we don't know anything yet." He said when he saw Greg's face show his sadness.

Greg didn't say anything, just turned his head away.

Nick grabbed a hold of his friend's hand and gave it a firm squeeze, "You know I'm here whatever happens, right? Whatever the scan shows I'll be here."

Greg nodded and turned to Nick and gave him a small smile, "Thanks."

"I'm tired." He added after a second.

"Alright, well I need to call Russell anyway, let him know what's going on. Get some rest and I'll come back later, yeah?" Nick said to him as he stood to leave.

Greg smiled once more as he watched Nick leave before turning away again and falling to sleep.

* * *

"Hey Russell it's Nick, yeah he's alright for now. He's just woken up and he was talking alright so… yeah, well I'm heading back to the lab now so I'll fill you in then. Okay, bye."

Nick ended the call and then started up his truck and headed back to the lab.

* * *

When he got back to the lab, Nick went straight to Russell's office and knocked, "Yeah!"

He went inside and shut the door behind him, "Hey Nick, how's Greg?" Russell asked him, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

Nick took a seat and sighed, "I spoke to his doctor and he said the tumour has probably gotten bigger. Greg needs another scan to be sure, but his doctor sounded pretty confident."

"That means his radiotherapy isn't working" Russell added and Nick nodded solemnly. "Are they keeping him there for a few days?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah, they said they're going to monitor him for a while, make sure he doesn't have any more seizures and then when they do the scan I guess they'll talk to him about his other treatment options."

Russell nodded thoughtfully, "How are you doing?" He asked after a while, looking at Nick.

Nick laughed, "I'm alright. It's just hard to see him sick you know?" He said and Russell gave him a sympathetic smile. "He's always been… Greg. I hate that I can see this thing changing him. I've known him fourteen years and he's been through his fair share of crap, I just can't believe he has to go through all this and the past few months of radiotherapy have done nothing except put him down more."

Russell sighed, "I understand. But we'll drop by in a few hours, see what the prognosis is and go from there. I think he's dealing with it all pretty well considering."

Nick raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, well I hope he is."

* * *

"Knock knock."

Greg opened his eyes when he heard someone coming through his door, "Hey guys" He said as he pushed himself up more. Catherine, followed by the rest of the team entered his hospital room, all happy to see him.

"I heard about what happened, are you okay?" Catherine asked him as she took the seat closest to him, grabbing his hand in a motherly way.

Greg smiled at her, "Yeah I'm fine."

"You need to stop doing this to us" Sara told him as she flashed him her toothy smile.

He smiled back at her and the rest of the team, "You shouldn't have come, you guys should go and get some sleep before you're back at work again."

"It's been a slow night," Morgan told him, "Besides, you're more important than anything else anyway."

Greg smiled at her and just then the doctor walked in. "Hey, I'm sorry; I didn't realize how many visitors you had in, Greg."

"It's alright, is it time for my scan?" Greg asked as he started pulling the covers off of himself.

"You got it, you want me to fetch you a wheelchair?" His doctor asked as he got the clipboard off of the end of the bed and scribbled something on it.

Greg laughed, "No I don't need one."

His doctor smiled, "Thought that would be the answer." He put the clipboard back down on the bed, "This shouldn't take too long." He told the team who smiled in acknowledgement.

Greg hopped off the bed, dressed in only a hospital gown and a thick pair of socks.

"You trying out a new style, stud?" Nick asked him with a smirk as he looked Greg up and down.

Greg gave him a sarcastic smile, "You're just jealous you can't pull it off" He replied as he winked at Morgan who laughed at him.

The rest of the team laughed and Greg told them he'd be back soon.

He was back in about half an hour and his doctor said he would be in with him in a moment to discuss his results.

When he entered, everyone noticed Greg tense up slightly, and they all turned their attention to his doctor.

"It's what we thought," He started and Greg let out a breath. "The tumour has gotten bigger suggesting to us that the radiotherapy isn't doing what we hoped it would be doing."

Greg nodded slowly, Catherine grabbing his hand. "So what now?" He asked him.

His doctor licked his lips, "Well we have a few options. We can try surgery, however it's… risky. The tumour is in a delicate place, hard to get to. There's a chance things could be made worse instead of better. But, there is also chemotherapy. It's pretty aggressive but it does what it's meant to."

"Yeah it also kills everything else about you too as well as the tumour" Greg said with a sigh.

"It can give some nasty side effects but in the end if it works, it's… worth it." His doctor told him.

The team looked at Greg as he looked at the sheets. "So it might not even work." He stated.

"There is a small chance chemotherapy won't work, but like I say the chances are still good for you and there is always surgery as another option."

Greg rested his head back onto the pillows and closed his eyes as he ran a hand over his face.

"I've printed off all the information I could about your options," His doctor told him, handing Catherine the sheets in his hands; "I know it's a difficult decision. I'll come back later and talk to you some more, answer any questions you might have, help you in any way I can. You have my pager number so don't hesitate to use it." He finished off saying before turning around and leaving.

"Thank you" Russell said to him with a tight smile as he left.

The team looked at Greg who still lay with his arm over his eyes.

Catherine squeezed his arm gently and he grabbed onto her hand with his free one as his face screwed up, about to release the onslaught of tears.

"Guys let's some of us leave" Russell suggested as he saw the first tear roll down Greg's face. None of them wanted to leave, but they knew Greg wouldn't want them there as he broke down, humiliated in front of all of his friends.

So Russell, Sara, and Morgan stood to go, Nick moving to a chair closer to Greg who was now crying quietly, refusing to remove the arm from over his eyes.

Nick smiled at them sadly as they left and then turned his attention to Greg like Catherine.

He grabbed hold of his friend's arm as he wept and gave Catherine a sad glance, "You'll be alright, you know that."

Greg sniffed as he moved his arm from his eyes and wiped his face, smearing his tears.

"Yeah, you can get rid of this, I know it." Catherine told him as she squeezed his hand again.

"I don't know what to do. What should I do?" He asked them, turning his head from Catherine to Nick.

"Well we have a lot we can read up on first," Catherine told him, putting the papers the doctor had given her down on the bed, "We have time to think about this."

Greg lifted up the first leaflet on top of the pile and opened it up. He read the first section with a sigh and put it down again, "Is it even worth looking at all of this about surgery after what he just said?"

"Of course it is, man, otherwise he wouldn't have told you about it" Nick told him.

"But he said it's risky," Greg retaliated, "And he said it's hard to reach it. The chances of it making me worse are greater than the chances of it making me better."

"Well we can talk more about surgery later, let's just keep positive about these options before we rule them out" Catherine told him, handing him another leaflet, "Now get reading."

* * *

Greg had spent hours reading through all the information he had been given with Nick and Catherine and the team had come back up to see him after about an hour to join him. They all pitched in their thoughts about the treatment and when Greg's doctor returned, they had all been there to listen to what he had to say.

Finally, after thinking long and hard about it, Greg had decided to go with chemotherapy. His doctor had told him that the chemotherapy would possibly not get rid of the tumour, only kill the cancer cells and reduce the size of it, resulting in the symptoms slowing down and preventing them.

The team had stayed for a little while longer but then Greg told them they should go and rest since they'll be a man down tomorrow and reluctantly they all left, saying that they would see him again after shift. He smiled as they left and then fell into a restless slumber.

The next morning, Greg woke up stupidly early thanks to his human alarm clock, having become adjusted to waking at odd times.

He sat on his own for two hours, reading a magazine that Nick had brought in for him. Well, maybe not a magazine, it was more of a scientific… journal. Either way, Greg found it easy to read and a good way to pass his time. He was surprised when there was a knock on his door and it opened slowly.

"Hey, Morgan, what are you doing here?" Greg asked her, pushing himself to sit up more as she came to sit next to him.

She smiled at him, "Well, I thought I'd stop by before I went to work. I'm surprised you're awake."

"Yeah, well it's hard to sleep at the minute and I'm kind of used to waking up at stupid hours anyway." Greg told her with his own smile. "Shouldn't you be trying to sleep a little more?"

Morgan shrugged her shoulders, "I wake up at stupid hours too" She told him with another smile.

They were silent for a moment until Morgan spoke again, "So when can you get out of here?"

"I'm guessing sometime today," Greg told her, not sure if that was correct, "Nobody's told me I need to stay longer so…"

Morgan smiled, "So you took that as them saying you can leave."

He shrugged and smiled, "Pretty much."

She laughed, "Well if you let me know I can come and pick you up when they do let you out."

"Thanks but I'll call a cab or something, I'm already disrupting work without taking your time up too" Greg replied to her.

"It's alright, I've already spoke to Russell and it's fine," Morgan told him and then smiled.

Greg raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Alright, thanks, only if you don't mind though."

Morgan rolled her eyes, "It's fine, now stop."

He smirked at her and she smirked back, the two of them started laughing. "Thanks for coming," Greg told her.

Morgan smiled, "Don't mention it."

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for reading and hope you like. X

X

Greg had been released from the hospital for just over two weeks now. He had started his chemotherapy and found it was affecting him more than he had thought it would. They said it would be aggressive and it was, after just two weeks' worth of treatment he was feeling the effects of it, but he tried not to show the team.

Russell and his doctor had allowed him back to work, but Greg was warned that if it became too much, he would not be allowed back to work and would have to go on leave. He reluctantly agreed to it and had returned back, but Russell had put him on lab duty.

Greg was a little peed off that he wasn't able to go into the field and be with the rest of the team, but truthfully he was grateful that Russell had put him in the lab. He felt like he needed to sit down constantly, so that was a plus of being in the lab, as well as being able to get as much coffee as he wanted to from the break room. No matter how much he tried to rest, he just felt tired almost twenty-four seven.

There was a knock on his lab door, "Hey man, what time is your hospital appointment?" Nick asked, hanging on the door frame.

"7:40" Greg told him, glancing up from the samples he was working on.

"Alright well I finish in half an hour, I'll take you." Nick told him.

Greg looked up and smiled, "Alright, thanks, I'll see you later."

Nick smiled, "Yeah I'll see you soon."

The team had taken it in turns to take him for his chemotherapy over the past few weeks and Greg had appreciated it. He couldn't be bothered to drive there and back all the time. Plus it meant he had someone to sit with and talk to whilst they hooked up his IV and pumped all the drugs into him.

Nick took Greg to the hospital as promised and waited with him until he was finished. They sat in Nick's truck on the way back to Greg's and talked every so often, but Greg could feel the bile rising in his throat as the nausea got too much for him.

"Can you pull over?" He asked Nick quietly and Nick quickly pulled the car onto one side as Greg opened his door, just in time, and threw up onto the sidewalk.

He pulled himself back into his seat and pulled the door to. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize, man. You alright?" Nick asked him.

Greg nodded unsure if he could speak or if more bile would make its way out.

"Okay, let me know if I need to stop again." Nick told him before moving off, and for the rest of the journey he kept glancing at Greg, who rested his head on the cool window with his eyes closed.

They finally reached Greg's house and Nick went around and opened his door for him, nudging his shoulder lightly to wake him up when he realized he had dropped off to sleep. "Hey man, we're at your place."

Greg rubbed his eyes and slowly dropped out of Nick's truck. Nick walked up the path with him and asked Greg if he wanted him to stay since he obviously wasn't feeling too great, however Greg told him he would be fine and that he was going to go to bed and get some sleep.

Nick said goodbye to him and then headed back to his truck. This was the first time Greg had been sick after his chemotherapy and he hated to see his friend throw up. He got inside his truck and started the engine and went home to sleep himself, hoping Greg would be okay tomorrow.

X

Nick had rang Greg the next morning to see if he was coming into work and then to offer him a lift, to which Greg had accepted. He returned to work and was grateful that the nausea had worn off and he felt okay again.

However after his next few rounds of chemotherapy, Greg found himself being sick more often and mentioned it to his doctor, who prescribed him some anti-nausea pills. They worked much to Greg's surprise and he carried on going to work, still in the lab.

Catherine was walking by his lab when she looked in and saw him with his arms across the table, head leaning on them.

"Greg?" She asked, getting slightly worried when he didn't reply.

"Greg?" She tried again and shook his arm lightly.

Greg groaned as he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Are you alright?" Catherine asked him when he looked up and frowned at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he looked around as he wiped his face, "Did I fall asleep?"

Catherine smiled faintly, "Kind of."

Greg smiled back at her sheepishly, "Oops, can you not let Russell know? I don't want him to fire me for sleeping on the job" He joked.

"I won't tell him, this time" Catherine told him, "Maybe you need to take a break though."

Greg looked up to her and bit his lip; "I guess I just had my break, I need to catch up on all of this" He told her, picking up the first file on a pile.

"Greg, don't push yourself too hard" Catherine told him sternly.

"I won't" Greg told her and flashed her a smile which she couldn't help but smile back at.

She left him alone and decided she would keep what she said to Greg and not tell Russell, but she told herself to keep an eye on him. She felt a maternal instinct over Greg and knew she had to protect him from everything she could. After she caused the explosion all those years ago, she promised herself she would be there for him no matter what.

X

"Hey."

"Hey, how are you?" Greg asked his boss as he came into the lab where he was working.

Russell smiled as he sat on one of the desks, "Good, how are you doing?"

Greg looked up and smiled back, "I'm good. Got your results finished." He said as he passed over a few sheets of paper.

D.B. took them off of him but didn't pay any attention to them. After a moment Greg looked up to him and raised his eyebrows, "You, eh, you need anything else, boss?"

Russell set the papers down and shuffled closer, "I want you to cut your hours a little more."

Greg sat back in his chair and took his gloves off, "Why? I'm not doing anything wrong am I?" He asked.

"No. No, it's nothing like that" Russell reassured him, "It's just I can see that you're tired, maybe you need an extra hour in bed, something like that. I don't want you doing too much."

Greg laughed slightly, "I'm not. Seriously," He said when Russell raised an eyebrow, "You guys aren't giving me half as much as I had to do a few years ago, I can do it."

Russell let out a sigh and sat next to his colleague. "People are worried about you; they've seen you in here asleep."

Greg swallowed hard, not knowing what to say and shrugged his shoulders, "So I was a little tired, I don't do it all the time."

"Greg, I don't want you to take this the wrong way" Russell started, "But there're tons of problems if you sleep in here, the main one being your health. If you're falling asleep it means your body wants you to rest."

"So I'll get a good night's sleep" Greg argued, "I don't need to shorten my hours anymore."

"Greg, I'm in charge here, so I'm telling you that your hours are being shortened." Russell told him. "And if you feel tired, go sleep in the break room, come in my office, anywhere but in here, alright?"

Greg reluctantly nodded, knowing that he couldn't change his boss' mind. Russell stood and clapped him on the back as he left.

X

Another few days had passed and Nick and Morgan were walking through the lab and went into the break room. Nick looked back to Morgan when he saw Greg spark out on the couch. Morgan smiled at the sight, "He looks tired." She said quietly.

Nick nodded in agreement and asked her if she wanted a cup of coffee. He brought them both a mug over. "I guess this is a good thing he's getting some rest then."

Morgan smiled again and thought about how long ago it seemed that she was looking after him in his house.

"So are you gonna' ask him out or what?" Nick asked, making her look at him surprised.

"What? Where did that come from?" She asked him as she sipped her coffee, purposely not looking at him.

Nick smiled, "You don't have to pretend, I've seen you guys" He told her teasingly.

Morgan scoffed, "Well I don't know what you think I've seen but forget it, there is no way I am asking him out."

"Why not? He's a good guy" Nick pointed out, "And he's had the hots for you ever since you got here."

Morgan looked up to Nick and smiled before looking over to Greg sleeping peacefully and shrugged her shoulders. "He's just a flirt, and besides girls don't ask guys out."

Nick raised his eyebrows, "I think you'll find they do" He said before drinking his coffee.

Morgan laughed, "Oh yeah? How many girls have asked you out?"

"I've lost count" Nick told her, making her laugh and elbow him in the side, he held his finger to his lips and shushed her pointing back over to Greg.

Just then Russell and Sara walked in, "Hey guys" Sara said to them quietly.

"How long has he been like this?" Russell asked Morgan and Nick.

Nick shrugged, "We only got in here a minute ago."

D.B. nodded and poured himself a coffee, "Well try not to wake him up, he needs the rest."

The three of them nodded and looked over to Greg, fast asleep.

X

Greg woke up some time later and looked around, seeing that he was in the break room and no one else was around. He blinked a few times and rubbed his hands over his face, before looking at his watch and jumping up.

He made his way back to his lab and saw Nick and Russell sat in there. Scraping his hands over his head, still getting used to having a shaven head and not having his hair to run his hands through, he took a deep breath before pushing the door open, "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't realize what time it was" He said quickly, pulling on his lab coat, followed by a pair of gloves.

"Greg, don't worry about it," Russell told him, clicking something on his laptop, "We've covered everything."

Greg looked over to Nick, "Yeah man, there wasn't that much to do, I think you did most of it."

Greg shook his head, "You guys should have woke me up."

Russell stood up, "I told you, don't worry about it, we got it covered." He told him before leaving the lab.

Greg took his seat, feeling tired already. "You should have woken me up, Nick."

"You looked tired, man. You looked like you needed the rest."

Greg sighed and picked up a file on the side, "Yeah well, I wasn't meant to be sleeping."

Nick put his hand on his shoulder, "Nobody's going to mind if you take a nap here and there alright?"

Greg didn't reply. "I'll see you later," Nick said to him and took one last look at his friend before he left him alone.

X

Morgan was walking down the hall of the lab and decided to go and see Greg. She turned the corner but stopped when she saw Greg sat at his desk, his body shaking all over.

Concerned for her friend, she quickly walked forward and into his lab, "Greg?"

Greg turned his head slightly and gave her a small smile, "Hey Morgan" He greeted her in a raspy voice.

"What's wrong? You're shaking" Morgan pointed out as she sat next to him.

Greg nodded his head, "Yeah I know. I, I think I'm still a little sick from my chemo. I only had it six, six hours ago" He told Morgan, stuttering a few times.

"Well then let me take you home" Morgan said to him, placing her hand on his arm.

But Greg shook his head as he gave her another smile, "I don't, I don't need to go home, I'm fine" he said and turned around, starting to get back to some samples he'd started running. He began preparing another sample but Morgan put her hand on his, first to stop him from starting the sample and also to stop his hand from shaking.

"Greg, you can't work like this" Morgan told him matter of factly.

He stared at her, knowing she was right, but he couldn't let her know that, "Yes I can" he argued.

Morgan shook her head and grabbed both of his hands when he started turn back to his desk. "You are not working like this; I'm going to tell Russell that I'm taking you home."

She stood up and Greg watched her as she left. He felt terrible. Usually he had his chemotherapy after shift, so he had the night to recuperate, but today he had it before shift.

He took another sip of water, grasping the bottle with shaky hands. No drinks were allowed in the lab but he couldn't help take one in with him, not today. Without it, Greg thought he might collapse.

He looked out the glass wall of his lab and saw Morgan coming back with Russell next to her. He put the bottle down and sat up straight when his boss entered.

"You alright, bud?" D.B. asked him with a concerned frown.

Greg smiled and gave him a quick nod, "Yeah I'm fine."

Russell gave him a brief smile, "That's all you ever say. Morgan's going to take you home. Get feeling better; have tomorrow off if you need it."

"I don't need to go, I feel fine" Greg tried but it was no good.

"Greg, you're in no state to argue" Russell told him, "Now get going, I'll get Hodges to cover this."

Reluctantly Greg nodded and shoved himself up from his chair. He must have looked wobbly or something because Russell reached his arm out to him and Morgan stepped forward. "I'm alright" He told them and pulled off his lab coat.

Russell took it off of him and told him to skedaddle, which made Greg smile as he left, Morgan by his side.

X

He hardly spoke to Morgan on the way to his house. He felt nauseous again and willed it to not turn into anything else until he got home. He noticed her keep giving him worried glances and he tried to assure her he was fine by flashing her a small grin.

They finally arrived at his house after what seemed an eternity and he was glad to finally be somewhere he could relax. Morgan followed him up his path and even followed him inside. Any other time he would be glad to have her at his, however he felt as sick as a dog and didn't think he could last much longer acting fine and upbeat.

"You want me to make you a drink or something? Get you something to eat?" Morgan offered him, familiar with her surroundings since she'd been there not too long ago.

Greg smiled at her in thanks but shook his head, "I'm just gonna' go to the bathroom" he said quickly, then went up his stairs as fast as he could without giving away that he was going to throw up.

As soon as he swung the door open he crouched next to the toilet and spewed out the contents of his stomach. He felt the sweat begin to form along his brow as he heated up and knew Morgan would be able to hear him from downstairs.

He sat there catching his breath when he heard footsteps up his stairs. "Greg, are you alright?" He heard Morgan ask through the cracked open door.

"Yeah, sorry I won't be a min-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before he was throwing up again and he saw out the corner of his eye Morgan walk in.

She bent down next to him and sat on the floor too, putting her arm on his back and rubbing it comfortingly. He turned to her slightly and smiled slightly, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Morgan replied to him, wrapping her arm around his back tighter, "You're hot."

Greg smiled at her, "I know."

She laughed and shook her head, "Very funny. But seriously, you're burning up, let me go and get you some ice."

Greg watched as she stood up and headed back down stairs. He leant over the bowl once more as the feeling overcame him again and prepared himself for another round.

Morgan was back up with him within a minute, ice wrapped in a towel and a glass of water for him. "Here, have a drink of this" she said as she passed him the glass.

He took it with his still shaking hand and took a small sip. When he knew it was going to settle he took another few small sips.

"Sorry about this, you can go" He told Morgan after a minute of her being sat with him rubbing his back again and holding the ice on the back of his neck.

Morgan smiled at him, "I'm not leaving you to throw up on your own, and besides someone needs to play nurse."

"Can't you dress up then?" Greg asked her, receiving a small slap across his arm, "Alright, alright I'm sorry."

Morgan let out a small laugh though; he was just so hard not to laugh at and with.

"Didn't you have some pills for this?" She asked him, remembering Nick telling her about how Greg threw up when he was dropping him off and that he had told his doctor who had given him something.

"Yeah, and they've been working pretty well up until now" Greg told her as he leant his head to the side, letting it rest on his wall.

"You okay?" Morgan asked him, knowing it was a bit of a stupid question.

However she did get a stupid answer back when Greg nodded his head along the wall, making her smile. He obviously wasn't okay but he'd always say that he was she'd come to learn.

"I think the best thing for you is to try and get some sleep" She told him, smoothing her hand down the back of his neck, which was now damp with sweat.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea right now" Greg agreed with her and started to stand up.

"Are you going to be alright on your own?" Morgan asked him.

He smiled at her and nodded, "Yeah, thanks. I'll be alright."

She smiled back softly and nodded, "Call me if you need anything."

Greg nodded and started following her down the stairs. "I'll let myself out, I'll lock your door and post your key through for you" She said. There was no point in him wasting his energy going down stairs just to come back up them again.

Too tired to argue Greg thanked her and watched as she went down his stairs and left his house. As soon as she was gone, Greg made his way to his bedroom, took off his shirt and pants and dropped onto his bed exhausted.

X

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	6. Chapter 6

I hope you like this everyone :). X

* * *

"Hey did you drop Greg off okay?" Russell asked Morgan when he spotted her in one of the light rooms.

She looked up from her work and gave him a smile, "Yeah, he was pretty sick though, I wouldn't expect him to come in tomorrow."

Russell stood next to her, "Really? It's Greg we're talking about here."

Morgan smiled again, "You're right. Well then, he shouldn't be coming in tomorrow is what I mean, but he most likely will."

Russell raised his eyebrows, "Well I'll see how he is if he comes in tomorrow and see if he needs to be sent home."

* * *

Nick arrived at Greg's place half an hour before their shift started. Russell and Morgan had told him about him being sent home and he wondered how he was.

They had planned for Nick to pick him up anyway, since Nick didn't think Greg should drive if he could help it. He knocked on his door and waited a minute before knocking again when he got no answer. Much to his surprise, and worry, Nick didn't get an answer the second time either, so decided to get his key out to Greg's house.

They had traded keys years ago and had never given them back to one another. Once he opened the door, Nick heard the door push something and looked down to see Greg's keys scuffing along the floor.

He picked them up and placed them in the bowl by the door before flicking on a light. He looked around and scanned downstairs, figuring that Greg wasn't down there. Nick started to make his way upstairs, hand just hovering over his gun, his years of being a CSI overcoming him and forcing him to be cautious.

He soon found that upstairs was empty too with just Greg's bedroom to look in. Nick couldn't help but feel he was invading his friend's privacy but went ahead anyway. He gently knocked on his friend's bedroom door and pushed it open slowly when he didn't hear anything.

Nick poked his head in and saw Greg stretch out and lift his head up confused. Squinting he started to untangle himself from his sheets he'd managed to wrap himself up in and started sitting up, "Nick? What are you doing here?"

Nick smiled apologetically, staying by the door not intruding his friend's space, "Sorry man, I came to pick you up and came to find you when you didn't answer your door."

Greg rubbed his eyes and face tiredly, "How did you even get in here?" He asked confused.

"Still got your key" Nick explained, jingling his keys in the air.

"Look, I didn't know you were sleeping, man, I'm sorry" Nick apologized as Greg rubbed his hands over his face again, walking towards his door.

"It's alright, it's a good job you woke me up otherwise we'd be late" Greg replied as he brushed by Nick and went into his bathroom.

Nick followed him and stood against the doorframe as Greg threw some cold water on his face to wake himself up, "Russell told me you can have today off, and it looks like you need it."

Greg glanced over to him and didn't say anything as he saw Nick looking him up and down. All Nick could see was skin and bone, Greg had lost so much weight. He looked up to his friend who quickly looked away from him.

"I think you should stay home for today" Nick said softly.

Greg turned back to him and nodded, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. "You should go, I don't want you to be late" He told Nick quietly.

Nick nodded, "Yeah" He said quietly. He stood for a second before stepping back, "I'll call round later."

"Right" Greg answered him, not looking at him. He was humiliated to let his closest friend see him in such a state. He was fully aware that he had lost weight. He hadn't wanted to eat that much, plus before the pills his doctor gave him it had been hard not to throw everything he ate back up again.

He already envied Nick for his body. Every time they would change at work Greg would feel inferior to the muscular, chiselled man. And now that he had lost the little weight he had, he looked smaller than ever compared to him.

He heard his front door go and knew that Nick had left. He made his way back to his bedroom and dropped onto his bed. Thankful that he now wasn't going into work, he got back in bed, crawled up and went back to sleep.

* * *

Greg had woken later that day and was sat for about three hours, flicking through all of his channels aimlessly before Nick returned. He got up and let his friend in, smiling awkwardly, still thoughts about Nick seeing him all scrawny and bones poking out everywhere.

"Hey man, how you doing?" Nick asked him as he stepped inside, going through to his friend's kitchen, crate of beer in his hands.

"Better, thanks." Greg told him as he followed him in.

"Good, hopefully I won't have to wait for Hodges to run anything tomorrow then" Nick joked.

Greg laughed and nodded down to the beer, "You know I can't drink that."

"You can't have one?" Nick asked him as he pulled one out and popped the cap off, passing it to Greg.

Greg smirked and took it, "Thanks."

"No problem. You looked like you needed cheering up earlier." Nick commented, grabbing a beer for himself.

Greg made his way to his couch and nodded, "I was fed up."

"What for?" Nick asked him, plopping down next to him.

"You know," Greg told him, shrugging his shoulders, "I'm just over feeling sick all the time. Can't wait to get back to normal."

Nick smiled at him sadly, "Yeah, I get it. Anything new from last time?"

Greg shook his head, "My doctor didn't tell me anything was different. That probably means it's the same or better right?"

Nick raised his eyebrow "I'd guess so. Didn't you ask?"

"I just let them do their thing and then I'm out of there" Greg told him, having a sip of his beer.

"Maybe you should ask next time" Nick commented.

"Maybe" Greg answered, going quiet afterwards.

Nick stared at him for a moment before deciding to speak up again.

"You're skinny, they say anything about that?"

Greg looked over to him wearily and shook his head, "No. It's hard to keep things down, I'm trying to fatten up a little." He told his friend, smiling slightly.

"You need to, man. I've never seen you so thin" Nick told him truthfully. They had seen decomposing bodies with more meat on them.

"Well, like I said, I'm trying. It's not like I want to look like this" Greg told him a little peeved, looking down, away from Nick.

Nick looked over, realizing he'd upset him. "Hey, I'm sorry man; I didn't mean it like that. It's just hard to see you like this, you know?"

"Yeah well it's harder for me to look in the mirror and see what I look like alright?" Greg retorted, sighing as he finished.

Nick didn't say anything, just stayed quiet, knowing Greg had to release some steam. He watched as Greg stood up and headed back into his kitchen, hearing him put his bottle down on the counter. He sat for a second until he heard the bottle smash and immediately stood up and followed Greg into his kitchen.

Greg was sat, hunched over on the island in the middle of the kitchen, hands running over his head. Nick looked around and saw that he'd thrown the bottle at the wall near the window, beer now dribbling down it and glass shattered everywhere.

Without saying anything, Nick moved over and started picking up the bits of glass and mopping up the beer that had also splashed along the counter tops. This was the first time Greg had shown his feelings about this whole ordeal and Nick thought it was good that he was finally showing his emotions. Nick knew that he would have lost it long before now had it been him.

After two minutes of looking, he'd managed to pick up all of the glass and clean up the rest of the kitchen. He looked over to Greg who was still sat, leaning on the counter.

"You want another beer?" He asked, making Greg let out a laugh and shake his head, finally looking up.

"Sorry. I don't know what came over me" Greg apologized.

But Nick held up his hands, "You don't have to apologize, I get it."

Greg nodded slowly, giving Nick a smile, "Thanks for cleaning up after me."

Nick laughed, "Don't expect it to happen all the time, this was a special occasion."

Greg smiled at him and sighed as he rubbed his hands over his head again.

"You want to go to the shooting range or something? Let out some steam?" Nick asked him, thinking of ways to lighten his mood and get his anger out.

"It sounds like a good idea but I can't be bothered, I don't have the energy" Greg admitted to him.

"Why don't I leave you alone then, let you get some sleep" Nick suggested.

Greg shook his head, "No, I'm fed up of sleeping too. Unless you want to go" He added.

"No man, I don't want to go" Nick assured him, "What do you fancy doing then?"

Greg let out a sigh and shrugged his shoulders, "Just sit."

Nick smiled slightly and nodded, pulling out another chair from under the counter, "Then that's what we'll do."

Greg looked over to him and smiled, "You… You can go if you want. I know this isn't much fun."

"Look, I didn't come here for fun, I just came to spend some time with you" Nick told him truthfully, "If we're gonna' do that by sitting in your kitchen, then that's it."

Greg pushed backwards and stood up, "You want to go sit in there; couch is a lot more comfy."

Nick stood up after him, "I thought you were never gonna' ask."

* * *

Greg returned to work the next day, still feeling pretty sick. However he was bored stiff being at home all day yesterday, even though Nick had been round to see him. Nick dropped him off at the lab and then went off to a crime scene.

Greg's first stop was the break room where he called for some coffee.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" Morgan asked him, looking up from a file in front of her on the table.

He smiled and sat down next to her, "Yeah, thanks. And thanks for taking me home the other day, and you know, sitting with me whilst I chucked up everywhere." He said with a grimace.

Morgan laughed and stroked his forearm which lay holding his mug of coffee, "That's alright, I'm glad to see you looking a little perkier."

"Yeah, well I got in a lot of sleep so…" Greg smiled at her again and nodded to her case file. "What you working on?"

She looked down and brought her hand from his arm, "Two male D.B.'s found out in the desert, looks like coyotes got to them before us, but they were beaten up pretty badly first" She explained, moving a photo across in front of him.

Greg scrunched his face up and shoved the photo back across to her, "I only stopped throwing up this morning, don't make it happen again" He told her, forcing her to laugh.

"I'm sorry," She slipped the photo inside her file, "You fancy going out for food later?"

"Sure, why not?" Greg replied as she stood up to leave.

She smiled down at him as she gathered her things, "Great, I'll text you later. If you see the others ask them if they want to come to."

Greg nodded, "Alright, I'll see you later."

* * *

The next chapter is ready to upload if you liked this chapter! X


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews! X

* * *

"Hey, so where are we heading?" Nick asked as he met Greg and Morgan in the lab parking lot.

"I'm happy to go wherever," Morgan said and looked over to Greg.

"Don't look at me, I probably won't eat that much anyway" he told them and looked to Nick.

Nick raised his eyebrows, "Well I guess that leaves me to choose then."

"Are we all going in my truck?" Nick asked them as he opened the driver's door.

"I'll follow you up there, I want to go straight home after and get some sleep" Morgan told him and Nick nodded and told her they would meet her there then as he and Greg got in his passenger side.

When they got there they quickly ordered and the food came out not much long afterwards. Nick and Morgan were quick to start eating however Greg hardly touched his fries and hadn't even been near his burger.

None of them said anything to him however, but they picked up on how quiet he was being too.

"You're being quiet," Nick said to him with a smile.

He looked up to him and smiled back, "Sorry, I'm pretty tired all of a sudden." It was true, he was awfully tired, but he could also feel his stomach doing backflips and knew that he wouldn't manage to hold a lot if anything.

"Well we have about ten hours until the start of our next shift you'll be pleased to know" Morgan told him sarcastically, "That means by the time we all get home, we can probably get in a good five, six hours sleep right?"

Nick raised his eyebrows, "Damn I need a day off soon."

Morgan laughed, "You're not the only one."

Greg smiled at them, "Well if you sleep at work Russell cuts your hours, you should give that a try."

This made both of them laugh, "You know, I might just try that then." Nick told him.

They sat for another quarter of an hour until Nick asked for the bill, "Here's my share" Morgan said as she opened her purse.

"Hey don't bother, I got this" Nick told her and flashed her his charming smile as he got his money out his wallet. He passed it to the waitress and then got a few more notes out for the tip.

"Well thank you" Morgan thanked him, "I think it's time we all got home." She added as she nodded to Greg.

His head had dropped down towards his chest and his eyes were closed. Nick and Morgan had noticed a while ago his eyes drooping whilst they ate and left him alone.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea" Nick commented with a smile as he leant over and gave his friend's shoulder a gently shake. "Hey man, come on I'll take you home" he said as Greg woke up and looked around dazed.

Morgan smiled at him as she stood up and he followed Nick as he slid out the booth.

Greg grabbed his wallet out of his pants but Nick put his hand on his, "I got this man, besides I ate most of yours anyway."

Greg smiled at him in thanks and looked down at his empty plate, realizing that Nick had indeed eaten his food for him.

Once they were out in the parking lot, they said bye to Morgan and then got in Nick's truck to take Greg back home. Nick glanced over to him just a minute after he had begun driving and saw that he had his eyes closed once more. He turned his radio off and let his friend sleep until he got home.

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow at work" Nick said as Greg opened his truck door slowly.

Greg didn't say anything, just held onto the truck as he dropped out, wobbling as he reached the sidewalk.

"You alright, man?" Nick asked, unbuckling his seatbelt already and jumping out, noticing Greg grab onto the open door for support.

He went around to the passenger side and put his arm on Greg to sturdy him, "Hey, you okay?" Nick asked him.

Greg nodded slightly, "Just really tired" he told Nick with a slurry voice.

"Alright, you want to sit for a minute or can you make it inside?" Nick asked him, holding Greg more firmly as he leant one way.

Greg opened his eyes and nodded, "I can make it inside."

"Okay, whenever you're ready, lean on me alright?" Nick told him as Greg took a small step forward. They slowly made their way up to Greg's house, stopping a few times as Greg had a second and unknowingly put pretty much all of his weight into Nick, who was holding him at the side, a hand supporting him around his back.

Finally they made it and Greg starting messing to find his key but Nick beat him to it and let them inside. "Let's get you upstairs to your room" He told him and followed Greg as he slowly walked up the stairs.

When he got to his bedroom, he sat on his bed and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Let me help you" Nick offered as he watched Greg struggle.

He pulled his shirt off and then supported Greg as he stood and pulled off his pants also.

"You want me to get you anything before you sleep?" Nick asked him as Greg started pulling back the covers and getting under them.

"I'll be downstairs if you need anything, okay?" He said when Greg didn't answer him, but he was already fast asleep.

Nick sighed as he turned the light off and headed downstairs. He was beyond tired but there was no way he was leaving his friend alone when he was almost passing out only two minutes ago.

He got himself a drink and sat for half an hour until he could feel his eyelids becoming heavy and soon found himself dropping to sleep.

He wasn't asleep long however as he woke up when he heard a bang come from upstairs.

Nick quickly stood up and ran up the stairs, calling Greg's name. He went straight into his bedroom and saw Greg collapsed on the floor near his door.

"Hey, hey, Greg can you hear me?" Nick asked him as he dropped next to him, relieved when he saw his eyes were open.

"Yeah" he replied, holding his head on the floor still.

"What happened?" Nick asked him.

Greg pushed himself into a sitting position and leant back against the end of his bed, "This pain in my head woke me up and I just… I fell or something."

"You want me to call an ambulance, take you to the hospital and get you checked out?" Nick asked him concerned.

"No, I'll be alright," Greg told him even though he hissed in pain, "Can you help me up? I need to go to the bathroom."

"Course, man" Nick told him and held his hand out for Greg to grab on to. He pulled his friend up and walked him to his bathroom, "I'll wait out here, call me if you think you're gonna' pass out or anything."

Greg nodded slightly and shut the door. Once he was in there, he went over to the toilet and sat down in front of it. He was hot to say he had no clothes on and sweat was forming on his brow; however he could feel himself shivering at the same time.

He sat for almost a minute with nothing happening but then lurched forward as the vomit rose in his throat and into his mouth. He heard Nick knock on his bathroom door but couldn't answer him as he tried to take some deep breaths and stop himself from passing out.

"Here, have some water man" Nick told him and passed a glass of water in front of his face.

Greg had no idea when Nick came in but he took the refreshing water gratefully. He closed his eyes tightly shut as another exploding pain appeared in his head.

"I'm going to get your meds" Nick told him, noticing the saddening pain filled expression on his friend's face.

He quickly ran down the stairs and grabbed the orange bottles that stood near his refrigerator and went back upstairs.

"Let's have a look which ones you need" Nick said as he sat next to Greg on the floor, sitting a little behind him so that his friend could lean back on him.

He put two pills that he knew Greg needed in his hand for him, "Eat those."

Greg obliged and put the pills in his mouth, swallowing them dry.

He turned back slightly, "Have you got the sickness ones?" He asked quietly, exhausted again.

Nick looked down and popped the lid off another, "Yeah here you go."

Greg took one and swallowed it dry too, and then rested his arm on the toilet and put his head down.

Nick rubbed his back friendlily, "You got a bucket or something we can take to your room, and you can get some sleep."

Greg shook his head along his arm, "I'll just stay here" he told him breathing heavily.

Nick nodded slightly, even though Greg couldn't see him.

"I'm going to get some sheets and things for you then alright?" Nick told him, standing up, "I'll be right back."

He went into Greg's bedroom and pulled his duvet off his bed, as well as his pillows. He went back into the bathroom and laid them on the floor, "Here you go, buddy. Lie down" he told Greg who slowly pulled himself away from the toilet and onto the floor where Nick covered him with his duvet.

"Get some rest" Nick told him.

* * *

An hour later, Nick found himself sat by Greg's side again as he was sat by the toilet once more.

"You think we should take you to the hospital?" Nick asked him.

Greg sighed and shook his head tiredly, "No, I don't want to be stuck there."

"Come on, look at you, you need them to give you something" Nick tried to persuade him.

"But if I go they're gonna' want to keep me there" Greg argued as he wiped the sweat off his head with a cloth.

"Maybe that's a good thing right now" Nick told him.

Greg shook his head and threw the pillow he had been holding onto the floor.

"I'm going to ring Russell and let him know you're going to hospital" Nick told him, leaving Greg's bathroom.

"No Nick, please" Greg stumbled, trying to stand up to go after him but being too weak to manage it.

Nick ran back to him and grabbed onto him as he tried again, "Stop arguing with me alright? No matter what you say, you're still going to the hospital."

Knowing that he was right and feeling the worst he had felt in a long time, Greg didn't reply, he just made his way to his bedroom where he started putting some fresh clothes on.

Nick came in a minute later, sliding his phone into his pocket, "Russell's not expecting us in and the team's going to come to the hospital after their shift to see you."

Greg nodded slightly and pulled on his shoes, "You don't have to come you know, I can go on my own."

Nick gave him a small smile, "I'm not leaving you to go on your own, I know how boring it is at hospital by yourself. Besides I didn't stay here for no reason."

Greg smiled as they made their way out of his house and down to Nick's truck. When they had both got inside and Nick started his engine Greg looked over to him, "Thanks. For staying over and you know…"

Nick smiled back at him as he patted his friend on the shoulder, "No problem. I just wish I could do more for you."

Greg smiled, "Well hopefully they can do something at the hospital to stop the sickness" he told him with a smile, "That's the worst thing about it all."

Nick nodded in understanding, "Well let's go and see what they can do."

* * *

"Hey you two" Russell said as he opened the door to Greg's hospital room. Nick and Greg looked up to him and smiled.

"Hey guys" Greg said as he smiled at Russell and Morgan who came into his room.

"How are you doing? You didn't seem that bad when we went for dinner" Morgan commented as she sat down.

Greg smiled at her, "I'm alright, just couldn't stop sitting by the toilet if you get what I mean" He explained to them.

Russell smiled slightly, "Yeah Nick told me that you weren't well. Have they given you something for it?"

"Yeah, they have me hooked up to a load of things actually" Greg told him, nodding down to the IV in his arm, "There's something in there that stops me throwing up so it's all good."

Morgan laughed slightly, "You know whilst you're in here there's a temp tech guy doing your job and he has my results still that I gave him yesterday."

Russell nodded when Greg looked to him with raised eyebrows, "He's from days" He told him as an explanation and both Greg and Nick laughed.

"When I was in the lab Ecklie wouldn't let me get away with half the stuff those guys do" Greg told him.

"You know I still find it weird when people call him that" Morgan told them all.

"In case you didn't realize it's a bit weird if we call him Dad" Nick told her sarcastically.

Morgan smirked, "You know what I mean."

Greg laughed, "Stop flirting with her that's my job" he told Nick, making everyone laugh and Morgan to blush.

"On that note I'm going to get a drink, does anybody want anything?" Morgan said as she stood up, giving Greg a look making him smile.

"No I'm good," Nick told her and Russell told her a straight coffee for him.

"Greg? You want anything?" She asked him as she headed to the door.

"No, thanks though."

She smiled, "Alright I'll see you in a minute."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it J If you are reading my other story I have going on, I'll try to update it soon. X


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you all who have reviewed this story! X

* * *

Greg had been admitted to the hospital two days ago and he already wanted to get out. However what he wasn't letting onto everyone was that he was still feeling pretty darn sick. The nurses kept coming in to check on him and he tried to tell them how sick he felt but it was hard to since he had someone with him most of the time, and he didn't want them to know so that they didn't feel guilty or pity him.

Once he was left alone, Catherine having left a few moments ago after bringing him some sweets and treats from the shop, he rang the call button and waited for a nurse to come.

"Mr Sanders, how can I help?" The nurse asked him as she came in.

He smiled at her and swallowed hard, "I think I'm on some sickness drugs but they aren't doing much for the nausea, is there anything you can give me? I feel like I might hurl any minute."

She smiled at him at his choice of words and grabbed his chart, "Well I'll go and see what I can give you, however you've got a lot of things mixing together right now" She commented, flicking the paper over, "Let me go and talk to your doctor and see what we can do."

Greg gave her a smile before she left and sighed. On the outside, he didn't let the team know what was wrong. But on the inside, he was tearing apart. The heaviness of this whole ordeal was building up. It started slowly at first, when he had first found out, but now, as he got sicker and sicker, the weight on his shoulders didn't stop. He was beginning to wonder how much more he could take before he slipped and let one of the team know.

He considered his take on the cancer a pretty good one. He had been dealing well, had all the treatment recommended and carried on working. Nothing could have gone smoother really. But suddenly everything had hit him all at once.

There was a knock on his door and smiled when Morgan walked in.

"Hey, I didn't think you'd be coming here today" He told her. She had come yesterday too and Greg told her she didn't have to feel it was her job to see him daily.

She smiled as she sat down, "Well I finished my case so I sneaked out whilst I could and…" She pulled something out of her bag, "I brought chocolate" she told him with a grin.

Greg smiled up at her but pushed her hand away gently when she offered him some, "Not right now."

"Why not?" She asked him sadly.

Just then the nurse came back in, "Right, let's see if this can help you" She said to him, oblivious to the other presence in the room, "You should feel that start working soon."

She pulled the needle out of his IV and left, leaving Morgan wondering what that was all about.

"Nauseas," Greg told her simply, offering a small smile.

"Oh my god, Greg I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot" Morgan apologised as she wrapped the chocolate back up, "I completely forgot."

Greg laughed at her, "It's alright, I appreciate the thought."

Morgan smiled, "Well I am sorry, so to make up for it…" she went in her purse again and pulled out a DVD, "fancy killing a few hours?"

"Yes, I do. All they play in here is talk shows and dramas" Greg told her as she went over to the T.V. in the room that the hospital provided.

She came back over to him and smiled, "Well hopefully this is a nice change then."

Greg shuffled along his bed slightly and patted next to him, "Come on, you can't sit on a plastic chair for two hours."

Morgan smiled and jumped on the bed next to him, he smiled at her and she smiled back. "Thanks, for coming here, it gets a bit boring on your own after a while."

"Don't worry about it," Morgan told him and wrapped an arm around him, "What are friends for?"

* * *

**Two weeks later**

Greg lay in his hospital bed, thoroughly exhausted. He had felt himself getting more tired, weaker, as the week had gone on. The hospital staff had tried to encourage him to keep active and go for walks just around the halls of the hospital, but it had been too challenging and Greg rarely felt like even getting out of bed.

He had wanted to get out of bed; he wanted to be anywhere than lying there all day every day for over two weeks, but it just took so much energy out of him. Energy that he didn't have.

Sara, Morgan and Nick came in his room and Greg was brought from his thoughts as he forced a smile out, "Hey."

"Hey man, how you doing?" Nick asked him as he took a seat.

Greg half shrugged one shoulder, "Same as yesterday."

"We brought you some cream for your mouth" Sara told him, passing him a small tub. They had all noticed a sore developing at the side of Greg's mouth late last week and it was now looking red raw and showed no signs of getting any better.

He took it from her with a shaky hand and took the lid off, wiping some from the tub and onto his skin.

"Have you seen your doctor today?" Morgan asked him.

He shook his head, "No, the nurse said he came in last night though but I think I must have been asleep" He told her, trying to give her a smile.

They all smiled at him and laughed, "Well it's tiring sitting around all day" Nick joked, giving him a soft punch to the top of his arm.

The edge of his lip lifted but that was it and Greg didn't even bother to look up from the spot he was staring at on his sheets.

"Hey, you alright?" Sara asked him lightly.

He nodded gently but still didn't look up.

"Hey, Greg, talk to us" Morgan told him, grabbing his hand when she saw his eyes glistening.

The three of them leaned into him concerned. Greg lay back into his pillows and didn't say anything as he wiped a stray tear away.

"Man, what's going on?" Nick asked him, rubbing his shoulder comfortingly, Sara stroking his arm too.

Greg just shook his head as a few more tears fell and he wiped them away silently.

His visitors shared their concerned looks and tried again, "Please Greg, tell us" Morgan tried, "We don't want to see you like this."

He sniffed and wiped his eyes again, "I'm just… I'm just," He shook his head softly as he wiped a hand over his face.

"Just what, Greg?" Sara asked tenderly, knowing that they were slowly getting him to talk.

"I just can't do it anymore" he told them as a torrent of tears broke free.

Nick put his hand further up towards his shoulder blades and his neck and squeezed gently, "Of course you can Greggo. You're doing great."

"Yeah, we know it's hard but you've gotten so far" Sara told him, "You're beating this."

But he shook his head in disagreement. "What's brought all this on?" Morgan asked him as she watched helplessly.

"I just don't want to spend another day in here" Greg told them sadly, choking slightly on his tears, "I don't want to feel like this anymore" he admitted, making them all frown in confusion.

"Feel like what, Greggo?" Nick asked him.

"This. I don't, I don't even want to fight it no more" he told them as he tried to calm his erratic breathing.

Morgan squeezed his hand unconsciously, "Greg, you can beat this, alright? Don't talk like this."

"No I can't, I can't beat it. It's already beating me" Greg argued with her.

"It won't if you don't let it" Sara told him. She couldn't believe how sudden this had come about.

"I want to let it" Greg said quietly, crying more as he brought his hands up to his face, wiping the ever coming tears.

Nick, Sara and Morgan looked at each other in shock, not knowing what to say. Nick grabbed a hold of Greg's hands, pulling it down from his face and holding it in between both of his tightly, "Now listen to me, you don't mean that. Okay?"

He moved a hand up behind Greg's head when he started disagreeing, "Greg, you don't mean that."

Sara and Morgan watched in despair as Greg shook his head once more. Nick gripped his head tightly as he let out a deep breath, "You're not giving up, I won't let you."

Greg pulled away from Nick's hand and looked at him, "You don't know what this is like" he said to him and looked to Sara and Morgan, "none of you do."

"Well then tell us Greg, please, we just want to help you," Sara pleaded with him.

Greg wiped his eyes again but it was pointless as more tears followed, "I had a scan last week, and it's not shrunk as much as it should have. My doctor told me we'd carry on the chemotherapy but" he shook his head as he sniffed and tried to compose himself, "he doesn't think it'll help that much. And I should think about having surgery instead."

Sara squeezed his leg to comfort him. "Then yesterday," he stopped when a sob almost made its way out, "I couldn't make it over there to the bathroom; I couldn't get myself out of bed. So I had to have a nurse, and a two minute thing took me twenty." Greg stopped as he took some more deep breaths and wiped more tears.

"I had another seizure about two days ago, whilst I was asleep. Apparently they couldn't wake me up properly for hours. When I woke up, they asked me a bunch of questions; what day it was, my name, who kept visiting me, and I couldn't answer any of them. I didn't even know my own name."

Nick shook his head, "Why didn't they tell us you'd had a seizure?"

"I told them not to," Greg replied and Nick looked at him upset, "You guys are already here after your shifts most days, I didn't want you to waste any more of your time."

"It's not wasting our time Greg" Morgan told him quickly.

"Yes it is, you have better things to do than sit here with a guy whose dying" Greg told them, much to all their shock.

"You're not dying, Greg. Dammit!" Nick told him angrily, "Now shut up saying stuff like that!"

Morgan and Sara looked to Nick, their mouths agape and not knowing what to say.

"How can you say that?" Greg asked him quietly, "Of course I'm dying, that's why you brought me here."

Nick shook his head quickly, "That's not why I brought you here, I brought you here so that you could get better faster."

"Because I'm dying, Nick" Greg told him again and Nick stood up abruptly, scraping his chair back along the floor.

"Nick come back" Sara tried but he had already shut the door. She turned to Morgan who gave her a look and then looked to Greg.

"You guys can go" he told them.

Morgan squeezed his hand, "We're not going anywhere."

She opened her mouth in surprise when Greg pulled his hand away and out from hers, "Please. Make sure Nick's ok" he said to her before rolling over slightly, his back now to them.

Sara grabbed Morgan's shoulder before she could say anything and motioned for them to leave.

"I'm coming back tomorrow" Morgan told him and stood for a second for a reply. When she didn't get one she followed Sara out of the door.

"What the hell has just happened?" She asked Sara as the door shut behind her.

Sara shook her head sadly, "I don't really know" she answered honestly with a sigh, "I'm going to call Nick."

Morgan took a seat outside of Greg's room and waited for Sara to finish.

"He's heading back to the lab" Sara said as she turned to face Morgan.

"Why? We just finished shift" Morgan asked her confused as she stood up.

Sara shook her head, not knowing why he was heading back, "I have no idea, but I'm going to go and talk to him."

Morgan nodded, "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, are you heading home?" Sara asked her with a small smile.

Morgan shook her head, "I'm going back in there with Greg."

Sara lost her smiled and looked at Morgan wearily, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Morgan nodded quickly, "I got it; you talk to Nick, I'll talk to Greg."

Sara bit her lip and nodded, "Alright, see you tomorrow."

Morgan nodded and watched her go before turning back to Greg's room.

* * *

"Hey."

Nick looked up and then back down at the file in front of him, "Hey."

Sara walked over and sat next to him, "Greg sent us out. He told us to make sure you're ok."

Nick raised his eyebrow and kept his head down, "Well next time you see him tell him that I am."

"I don't want to lie to him" Sara replied and Nick glanced his eyes over to her.

"You won't be" Nick told her bluntly.

She sat for a moment just looking at him, "He still needs you."

"He doesn't need me at all, he's made up his mind and if he doesn't care if he beats this then, that's his decision" Nick told her, not looking up.

Sara shook her head, "Can you imagine how hard this is for him?" She asked softly, "He tried to hide it from us and he managed to for a little while. We need to show him that we're here no matter what."

Nick sat up straighter, "I get that, and I've been there; I've been there whilst he throws up at 3:00a.m., I've took him to the hospital, I sat at home with him for hours. He doesn't care."

"He does" Sara argued, "He's just scared, Nick."

"And we're not? I know I am. I'm scared he's not gonna' be here tomorrow, that I won't get to work with him again. We're all scared" Nick told her loudly and she turned her head to make sure no one heard him.

She looked at him with sad eyes and leaned her hand across the table and rested it on his, "But who needs their best friend the most?"

Nick looked up at her and then back down. "I don't want to lose him, you know? Hearing him talk like that," he shook his head, "that's not Greg."

"I know, that's why we need to talk to him and show him that he needs to keep fighting."

Nick nodded and smiled at Sara, "Where's Morgan?"

Sara sighed, "She's still at the hospital. She's going to try and talk to Greg."

* * *

Greg opened his eyes when he heard his door open and closed them again when he saw Morgan come back in.

He heard her walk over to him and sit down next to his head.

"I thought you'd gone" He said simply.

"I can't leave you after what you just said. Nick's pretty upset." Morgan told him quietly.

She waited for a reply but didn't get one and sighed, "Why didn't you tell us how you felt before now, Greg? You should have said something sooner."

Greg opened his eyes and looked up to her, "It's a lot easier to pretend you're ok."

Morgan shook her head, "Well don't any more. This whole thing isn't easy on you, and it's too much to take all on your own. And I know we might piss you off all running around making sure you're alright but it's only because we need you. We need you to get better and come back to work with us all where you belong."

Greg pushed his head back into his pillows and held out his hand which Morgan took, "None of you have pissed me off. I just don't want you guys spending all your time doing stuff for me. You're covering me at work, doing more hours, and then you're coming here to spend time with me when I fall asleep pretty much every time you're here. It just doesn't seem right."

Morgan squeezed his hand, making him look at her, "If one of us were in your shoes, wouldn't you do everything you could to make sure we were happy?"

He looked into her eyes and nodded, "But I'm not happy."

Morgan could have sworn she heard her heart break right then. She swallowed the lump in her throat and willed the tears to go, "What can we do, I do, to make you happy?"

Greg turned his head to look at her and sighed, "Anything to take the cancer away."

Morgan quickly wiped a tear away that escaped and squeezed his hand.

"If I could I would. Believe me, if I could do anything to help get rid of it I would" she told him and stopped when the tears got too much; she turned her head and looked away.

Greg shuffled up to sit more upright and scooted closer to the end of his bed, "I didn't mean to make you cry" he told her as he attempted to pull her into a hug.

She let out a sob as she leaned into his embrace, "I didn't want to cry" she told him, "Please, please just hold on and beat this, I can't bear the thought of not having you around."

Greg nodded onto her shoulder, "Ok, I'll do it; I'll do everything I can, alright?"

Morgan nodded as she pulled away and wiped her face, "I love you, you know that."

Greg smiled and squeezed her hand once more, "I know. And I love you too."

* * *

Did you like it? I hope so, please review! X


	9. Chapter 9

Hope you like it and can review. X

* * *

Greg opened his eyes when there was a knock at his door. He watched Nick walk in and sit down next to him.

"I was hoping you didn't have any visitors" Nick commented.

Greg looked at him, "Morgan stayed with me all night. Everyone else has other stuff to do" he replied with a raspy voice.

Nick nodded slowly and didn't say anything for a while.

"Is there a reason you're here?" Greg asked him tiredly.

Nick looked down to him and nodded, "I… I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, about yesterday."

Greg closed his eyes and rolled his head on his pillow, "I accept your apology. I'm sorry too."

Nick smiled slightly and nodded. "It was just a shock to hear you talk like that, you know?" he said when Greg didn't say anything else, "I just want you to get better."

"I don't think that's going to happen" Greg said, his eyes still shut.

Nick swallowed deeply, "Yes it is."

Greg opened his eyes and rolled his head along his pillow to look at Nick, "I've slept for about twelve hours already today and I still feel tired. I could sleep all day and I'll still feel tired."

Nick shook his head slowly, "If you have the surgery, you-"

"Nick, if I have the surgery it'll probably kill me" Greg told him, staring him straight in the eyes.

Nick shook his head again, "No it won't. Look, I talked to a great person when I had a rough time after the whole Walter Gordon thing, you should talk to her."

Greg opened his eyes again and sighed, "Don't waste your time Nick."

"I'm not wasting my time" Nick argued but Greg spoke again.

"Please don't make me fall out with you again, I can't do it" Greg pleaded with him.

"No Greg, why can't you admit that you need help?" Nick asked him.

"I admit I need help. I need something to get rid of this cancer but I can't see that happening."

Nick sighed, "Talk to your doctor about surgery, he can tell you more about it."

"This can save your life" Nick added when Greg didn't respond.

"Greg, for god's sake just acknowledge me or something!" Nick told him frustrated, "Let me go and get your doctor."

"I'm having surgery on Thursday" Greg told him quietly.

Nick stared at him for a moment before going to take his seat once more, "Good. Good" he repeated.

Neither of them said anything for a while until Greg spoke again, "I'm sorry, for being a jackass."

Nick laughed slightly, "You've not been a jackass. I really think you need to talk to this woman though, she can help you, make you feel better" Nick told him.

"I don't need to see a therapist" Greg told him bluntly.

"Just try it out, man, especially when you've had your surgery" Nick said to him, "It'll help you deal with everything."

Greg shook his head, "Please stop talking about this" he requested sadly.

"I can't Greg, I'm just trying to help you feel better" Nick told him. "Believe me it will help."

"I'm tired" Greg told him plainly and Nick nodded as he stood to go.

"Right, I know you are. I'll be back tomorrow" Nick told him as he stood by the door.

Greg nodded and turned his head away. Nick opened the door and shut it quietly behind him. He leaned on the door and sighed. Two more days, Greg would be in surgery. The surgery that could end his life.

* * *

"Hey" Morgan said quietly as she entered Greg's hospital room and saw him open his eyes slowly.

"Hey" he said back with a weak voice.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked him with a small smile as she sat next to him.

Greg sighed, "Like usual."

Morgan nodded sadly, "Hopefully you can rest some tomorrow. Are you nervous?"

Greg nodded his head in his pillow, "Like you wouldn't believe" he admitted.

Morgan grabbed his hand, "Everything will be ok. I know it."

Greg gave her a small smile and closed his eyes, "Let's hope so."

"Did you speak to Nick?" Morgan asked him after a moment.

"Yeah, he wants me to see therapist" Greg told her, looking up to her.

Morgan cocked an eyebrow, "Maybe that's a good idea" she said to him in an almost shy voice.

Greg turned his head to her and sighed, "Not you too. Please don't talk about this" he asked her.

"Ok, ok, I won't" Morgan told him with a small smile. "You want to do anything before your surgery? Less than 24 hours to go."

Greg rolled his head to look at her, "Thanks for reminding me" he said sarcastically, making her smile slightly as he cracked a small one of his own, "I can't think of anything I feel like doing right now."

"Alright, fancy watching a film?" Morgan asked, already going into her bag.

"Sure, what have you brought this time?" He asked her as he shuffled on his bed.

Morgan smiled, "Finding Nemo."

Greg smiled as she came back over to him after putting the DVD in. She smiled back and climbed on his bed next to him, the same way she always did when they watched a film together, something that had become something of a habit whilst he was at the hospital.

Morgan kept glancing over to Greg, noticing how he was drifting asleep and she prayed that this wouldn't be the last time they got to do this together.

* * *

"Hey Sara, I need to ask you something" Nick said as he walked into the lab where Sara was working.

She looked up and smiled, "Sure, what's up?"

"Do you know that Greg's having surgery tomorrow?" He asked her hopefully.

Sara's jaw dropped open, "Surgery? He's having it?"

Nick nodded, sort of relieved that he wasn't the only one who didn't know, "Yeah, you didn't know either?"

"No, I had no idea" Sara told him, "Does Russell know?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I'm going to ask him now" he told her before leaving her lab and walking down the hall to the end where Russell's office was.

He knocked on the open door and went inside, "Hey, Nick."

"Hey, did you know Greg's having surgery tomorrow?" Nick asked him straight up.

Russell sat up in his seat, "No I didn't. What time is he having it?"

Nick sat down in front of him, "I think he said about 4:00."

Russell nodded, "Alright, go and tell everyone, we'll go and see him before hand."

Nick nodded, "Ok, I'll talk to you later."

* * *

Nick went into the locker room after closing his case and saw Morgan in there; "Hey" he greeted her.

She looked up to him and smiled, "Hey, you finished your case?"

He nodded and smiled, "yeah, just. It was quite a simple one so it was a nice way to finish off the day."

Morgan smiled as she stood to put something in her locker.

"Do you know about Greg's surgery tomorrow?" Nick asked her whilst she was hidden behind her locker door.

She slowly shut it and looked up to him guiltily.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" He asked her, trying to contain his anger.

She put her hands up in defence, "Greg didn't want me to tell anyone so I didn't."

"You don't think we want to know things like this?" Nick asked her ridiculously.

Morgan locked her locker door and picked up her bag, ready to leave, "Yes I do, but Greg told me not to tell you all."

She tried to walk by Nick but he put his hand out to stop her, reaching it across onto the lockers, blocking her path.

"Can you move please" Morgan requested, trying to cover up how intimidated she felt.

Nick stared at her and then pulled his arm back, allowing her to walk by him. He sighed when she left and sat down on the benches in the locker room, rubbing his hands stressfully through his hair.

* * *

The team walked into the hospital room and saw Morgan sat close to Greg's head, her hand in his.

"Hey guys. Greg, how are you feeling?" Russell asked as he led the team in.

Greg nodded slightly, "Ok."

Russell smiled at him as the team sat down, "We brought some things that you might want after your surgery" he told him as he nodded to a basket Sara held in her hands, "everyone at the lab pitched in for you."

He looked over to it and offered up a small smile, "Thanks, you all didn't have to."

Catherine smiled, "Of course we did. If we'd have known you were having surgery sooner we might have gotten you something a little better."

"Yeah, if someone had told us" Nick said spitefully, looking at Morgan.

Morgan diverted her eyes from him and looked down.

"Hey don't blame her," Greg started.

"Greg, it doesn't matter" Morgan told him and gave him a smile.

"Yes it does, we were all left in the dark about this whole thing" Nick argued.

"Because I didn't tell you" Greg told him, "it's got nothing to do with Morgan."

"She could have told us" Nick said back to him as the rest of the team sat not knowing what to do.

Greg pushed himself up ever so slightly and let go of Morgan's hand, "I told her not to. Haven't you thought maybe I didn't want you all to know?" he asked him, "maybe I didn't want you all to know that when I saw you the last time could actually be _the _last time?" he asked him as his breathing quickened.

"I didn't tell any of you because I didn't want to say goodbye" he admitted. "I told Morgan because I knew she wouldn't tell anyone else. I told you because I wanted you…" he took a moment and looked down, "I just wanted you to get off my back. I didn't want to end on bad terms."

The whole team were silent as Greg coughed, trying to regain his breath.

Nick shook his head and frowned, "Greg, I'm sorry" he said with a regretful face, "I really am."

Greg looked over to him and nodded as he leant back into his pillows.

Catherine grabbed his hand and smiled, "Well now that we know about your surgery, just be strong and know that we're going to be here through all of this."

He squeezed her hand back and offered a small smile, "Thanks."

Greg's hospital door opened and his doctor walked in with a nurse.

"I see you have a lot of visitors so I'll keep it short" he started, "We just need to check some things over and then we'll be back in about an hour to take you through to the operating theatre. If you want to ask anything, call one of the nurses in here, Mary is going to be in theatre with me so ask for her" he told Greg, smiling at the nurse next to him, "does that sound alright?"

Greg nodded to him and he smiled back, "Ok, well I'll see you in an hour."

The team watched as he left and then turned back to Greg. They talked to him for half an hour until they noticed he wasn't saying much.

"You want us to go? You can have some time to yourself before you go in" Russell suggested to him.

Greg looked at him and let out a small sigh, "No it's alright."

The team looked at him sympathetically as they saw the nerves overcoming him.

"You'll be alright" Russell said to him with a smile, as if reading his thoughts.

Greg smiled at him nervously and then the others, "I don't want to do it."

"You have to, it's going to help you" Catherine told him, squeezing his hand.

But Greg shook his head, "No, I don't want to do it."

The team shared worried looks with each other, "I know it's scary bud, but you need this surgery" Russell told him.

Greg looked to him and rolled his head slightly on his pillows, "I really don't want it. Someone tell them I'm not doing it" he said to the team.

Morgan leaned over and picked up his hand again, "Greg, please do this. We've talked about it and you need to do this."

Greg looked at her and shook his head, "Isn't there anything else they can do?"

She shook her head sadly, "They've tried, you know that. Please, do this."

He sighed quietly and looked at the team.

"Greggo we need you to have this surgery" Nick said to him, still feeling the emotions from when he first entered the room.

Greg nodded slowly, "Yeah."

Morgan squeezed his hand, "We'll be waiting here for when you wake up, I promise."

Greg nodded again and squeezed her hand back weakly.

"Okay."

* * *

**Four hours later**

"Oh my god" Catherine walked forward first, the others following her into Greg's new room in intensive care. They all gathered around his bed and the doctor stood at the end.

"I know it looks like there's a lot going on and there is, but he's made it through, which is the most important thing" he told them, "I'll be back soon to check on him."

The team paid little attention to the doctor as they all stared at Greg. It was a sad sight; multiple tubes ran from various parts of his body, draining wounds and monitoring his fluids. An oxygen mask had also been placed over his mouth and a tube was coming from his nose.

"What's that for?" Morgan asked as she looked at it in slight disgust.

"It should stop him from getting sick when he wakes up" Russell informed her.

She nodded in understanding and frowned as she looked at him, "How much did the doctor say he managed to get?"

"Most of it" Sara told her, "Some more chemo should get rid of the rest."

The team sat in silence from then, waiting for Greg to wake up.

* * *

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Catherine asked when she saw Greg looking at her and the rest of the group.

He rolled his eyes to look around groggily and saw the team smile at him.

"You did it, man. You got through it" Nick told him, rubbing his arm in a brotherly way.

Greg didn't do anything, being too exhausted and his mind too foggy to be coherent.

"Go back to sleep, you deserve some rest" Sara told him. He didn't need telling twice and as soon as his eyes shut, he was once again asleep.

* * *

"Here, just take a small sip, if you can manage to hold it we can take your tube out" the nurse said as she passed him a cup of water with a straw.

To his surprise, the team were still there. He had no idea what time it was, but he was sure they had to be tired and wanting to be in bed right then.

He took a few more sips of water and the nurse was satisfied that the tube could be taken out.

"This might be a little uncomfortable," she told him as she gently began pulling the tube out. Greg grimaced but within seconds the tube was out. "There we go, how are you feeling?"

Greg swallowed, getting used to the tube being gone, "Alright."

"Ok, good. I'll be back to check on you in an hour or so. You can have some ice chips that I've left on the table, and you'll probably be pretty tired again soon so don't let your friends keep you up. And that oxygen mask needs to be kept on for a while" she told him as she brought it back down over his face.

"I'll be back soon" she told him again before walking past the team and leaving them alone.

"You feeling ok?" Catherine asked him.

He nodded and gave her a smile, "It feels good to still be here."

Nick, Sara and Morgan smiled, having heard what Greg said the other day shocked them all, so it was good to hear him say that.

"Are you too tired to have us here? We can go so that you can sleep" Morgan told him.

"I like having you guys here" he said, slurring his words slightly.

The doctor told them that it's usual to have speech problems and a number of other problems, but they were almost certain to go away pretty quickly.

"Well that's good because we didn't want to go anyway" Catherine told him with a smile.

He smiled back and took a long drag of the oxygen being fed to him though the mask over his mouth.

"Can I have some ice please" he asked no one in particular.

Sara grabbed the cup and spoon laid out by the nurse and came over. Greg raised his hand and weakly pulled the mask down to rest on his collar bone.

He was weak before the surgery had even happened, the radiotherapy, chemo and stress of everything just taking all of his energy. But now he felt as if he could do nothing, his body felt so tired.

"You want me to pass them to you?" Sara asked him.

He shook his head ever so slightly and held his hand out to take the cup. He grasped it feebly and rested the cup and his hand down on his lap, taking the spoon from her with his other hand.

He coughed slightly and winced as the stitches on his head pulled painfully. The team looked at him with sympathy and he attempted to feed himself some cooling ice chips. He only managed to get some on the spoon, as he found that he couldn't lift his arm high enough to reach his mouth.

Without a word, Sara took it back from him and passed him some on the spoon, which he took without even looking at her. The team shared sad glances and Nick squeezed his arm comfortingly, "You've just had major surgery man, don't beat yourself up over this. You need time to recover and regain your strength."

The team agreed with him but Greg still didn't say anything, humiliated that he couldn't even feed himself some ice chips.

For the rest of the time they were there, the team made small talk and tried to include Greg but it was clear he didn't want to talk, so they left after a few hours so that he could rest.

Once he was alone, Greg let a tear roll down his face. Although the surgery had been a success, he couldn't help but feel worse somehow. He still had to have more chemotherapy to try and remove the rest of the tumour, but Greg felt pessimistic about whether it would actually work. He sat thinking about everything for a long time before feeling exhaustion overcome him again, and he closed his eyes, welcoming the sleep that awaited him.

* * *

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